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Sylvalyn Hammond, DVM

@thehonestvet

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🐾 Evidence Based Pet Health
💕 Your Vet For Every Pet
👶🏻🐶👶🏻💙 Boy Mom
#vetmed #veterinarian⁣

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It’s been a while since I’ve introduced myself 👋 Many of you know me as The Honest Vet, but here’s a little more about the human behind the name.I’m Dr. Sylvalyn Hammond, a veterinarian, mom of two human boys and one very handsome rescue pup, and wife to an Irish immigrant (mail-ordered, obviously 😉). I grew up on a dusty cattle ranch in southern Arizona, studied at the University of Arizona (#beardown), then went on to veterinary school at Texas A&M (#gigem). These days, I practice medicine in beautiful Charleston, SC.I’ll see any animal in need, and I believe vet care should be accessible to all. My biggest passion is educating pet parents so you can feel confident giving your pets their best lives. 🐾💙Thanks for being here and for following along. I’m so grateful for this community!#TheHonestVet #VeterinarianLife #PetParentTips #VetMed #HealthyPetsHappyPets #PetParentEducation #VetAdvice #PetWellness #PetHealthMatters #EmpoweredPetParents #LifeOfAVet #PetParentCommunity #EverydayVet #BehindTheScrubs #ArizonaWildcat #DesertGirl #TexasA&M #Aggies #AggieVet #Charleston #ContentCreator #OnlineEducator by @thehonestvet

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9 months ago

This isn’t the first time I’ve turned down a very generous offer, and it won’t be the last. Why? Because the product didn’t meet the same standards I use in the exam room with my patients. And that’s the standard I hold for anything I share here, too.Before I recommend something, I:✔️ Dig into the research & science✔️ Consider my real-life experience as a veterinarian✔️ Ask myself, Would I truly stand behind this for my own clients or pets?That’s why when you see me highlight a product, you can trust it’s passed through every filter of honesty, science, and care.✨ Not all influencers can say the same. Some recommendations are made for financial gain, not your pet’s wellbeing. ✨I’ll always keep it transparent here. You can count on me for unbiased, genuine recommendations because your pet deserves nothing less. 🐾💙👉 be careful out there; social media is the Wild West. #TheHonestVet #VeterinarianLife #PetParentTips #VetRecommended #PetCareTips #VeterinaryMedicine #PetHealth #VetAdvice #DogParents #CatParents #HonestRecommendations #VetInfluencer #ScienceBased #PetWellness by @thehonestvet

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9 months ago

❌ Do NOT put a wet towel over a hot dog! And what to do instead. 🐶#thehonestvet #vetmed #hotdog #summersafety #petsafety by @thehonestvet

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17 hours ago

Screwworm is here! 😱🤢 For more information, visit Screwworm.gov or talk with your veterinarian.#thehonestvet #vetmed #usda #parasites by @thehonestvet

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a day ago

One of the most common things I hear from cat parents during consults is: “No vomiting… well, no more than normal.”And that’s the problem: there is no normal amount of vomiting.If a person vomited once a week, once a month, or even every few months, we wouldn’t consider that normal.Yet for some reason, we’ve normalized vomiting in cats.The truth is that regular vomiting is often a sign that something isn’t right. While an occasional isolated episode may not be concerning, cats that frequently vomit food, clear fluid, foam, or bile deserve a closer look.Potential causes include:🐱 Food sensitivities or dietary indiscretion🐱 Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)🐱 Intestinal lymphoma🐱 Chronic kidney disease🐱 Hyperthyroidism🐱 Pancreatitis🐱 Parasites🐱 Foreign material ingestion🐱 Other gastrointestinal diseasesAnd before anyone says it: Coughing up a hairball is not the same thing as vomiting.Hairballs occur when hair accumulates in the stomach and is eventually expelled. While frequent hairballs can still indicate excessive grooming, skin disease, stress, or gastrointestinal motility issues, they are a different process than repeatedly vomiting food or bile.That said, many owners mistake vomiting for a hairball problem. If your cat is bringing up partially digested food, yellow bile, foam, or liquid, that’s vomiting, not a hairball.I’ve diagnosed everything from food allergies to intestinal cancer in cats whose owners thought their vomiting was “just normal for cats.”So if your cat is vomiting regularly, don’t assume it’s simply part of being a cat. Mention it to your veterinarian. Sometimes the symptoms we’ve learned to ignore are the very clues that help us catch disease early.Healthy cats shouldn’t be throwing up on a regular basis.#thehonestvet #vetmed #cathealth by @thehonestvet

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6 days ago

Unpopular opinion: these signs annoy me.Before the homeowners come for me, hear me out.I completely understand wanting to protect your lawn. Maintaining a beautiful yard takes time, money, and effort. And irresponsible dog owners who don’t pick up after their pets make the situation worse for everyone.But as a veterinarian and dog owner, I genuinely wonder what the end game is.Many dogs don’t have private backyards. Their daily walk is their bathroom break. It’s also an important source of mental enrichment, exercise, and quality of life.And let’s be honest: once a dog decides it’s time to pee, there’s often not much room for negotiation.I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle.Dog owners should absolutely pick up after their pets, keep dogs under control, and avoid damaging landscaping.But I also think we need to remember that dogs are living animals with normal biological needs; not tiny robots that can hold it until they find the one patch of grass nobody cares about.Curious where everyone stands on this one.Do these signs seem reasonable to you, or have we gone a little overboard? 👇🐾#thehonestvet #dogmom #dogwalker #homeowner #nodogsallowed by @thehonestvet

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7 days ago

SUS is a common diagnosis affecting canines. I recently learned this condition also affects human babies thanks to @galthebabydoc. Always interesting to see how similar medicine is across humans and animal species. #thehonestvet #vetmed #sus #satire by @thehonestvet

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9 days ago

@blazingbuffalowings I think you’d prefer that vets uneducate themselves since the invidiuals you take pet health advice from have zero formal or accredited education themselves. 🖤#thehonestvet #vetmed #responsevideo #rawfed #pethealth by @thehonestvet

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10 days ago

When 15-year-old Lulu, a small pup with a longstanding heart murmur, came in for a newly developed cough, it would have been easy to assume the worst: congestive heart failure. After all, coughing can be one of the first signs.But assumptions aren’t diagnoses, and starting treatment without confirming can waste time and money, and even be harmful.Thankfully, Lulu’s mom understood the importance of getting answers and approved radiographs (x-rays) so we could evaluate her heart and lungs. Lulu’s heart looked fantastic, and her lower airways were clear.That changed everything about how we treated her!Instead of jumping straight to heart medications that wouldn’t have helped (and in some cases can be tough on the kidneys), we were able to focus on more likely upper respiratory causes. We treated Lulu for an upper respiratory infection, and she’s already feeling much better.That said, we’ll still be keeping a close eye on her because with a heart murmur, future changes matter. This time, it wasn’t her heart. Next time, it could be.This is such a great reminder of the importance of diagnostics and why your veterinary team isn’t just recommending them to “make money”. #thehonestvet #vetmed #pethealth #seniorpet #geriatricpup by @thehonestvet

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11 days ago

The internet: where logic, reason, and manners come to die 🥲.#thehonestvet #vetmed #rawfed #pethealth #petsafety by @thehonestvet

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13 days ago

Not every moment in veterinary medicine ends with good news.I debated sharing this video.Because this isn’t the kind of case that feels “happy” or inspiring in the traditional sense. This is an ultrasound of a senior cat, and what we found was a bladder tumor near the trigone, a location that, sadly, carries a very difficult prognosis. Over time, this will begin to affect her ability to urinate, her comfort, and ultimately her quality of life.After this came the hardest part: sitting with a family and telling them that their cat likely doesn’t have much longer with them.People often see the joyful side of veterinary medicine: the puppies, the recoveries, the happy endings. And trust me, I’m grateful for those moments. But there is another side too.There are the conversations we never stop carrying with us.The moments where someone’s world changes in a single sentence.The heartbreak of knowing there isn’t a cure, only the responsibility to help a family navigate love, comfort, and goodbye.And then, somehow, we move to the next appointment. Then the next. Then the next.I wanted to share this because I think it’s important people see both sides of the coin. Veterinary medicine is beautiful, meaningful work… but it is also heavy.And maybe this can serve as a gentle reminder: our time with our pets is never long enough. The ordinary moments, the quiet mornings, the annoying habit that somehow becomes endearing, the sound of them greeting you at the door, those are the things that matter.Love them hard. Take the extra picture. Sit with them a little longer.Because someday, you’ll wish for just one more ordinary day. ❤️#thehonestvet #vetmed #petcare # by @thehonestvet

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a month ago

Children, especially those younger than 6, should always be seated when holding small animals. Please and thank you 🙏🏼. #thehonestvet #vetmed #animals #animalsafety by @thehonestvet

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a month ago