You know him as the doctor of veterinary medicine who went viral on TikTok for using dance to educate his followers on pet health and wellness. But there’s a lot more to Dr. Hunter Finn than you see on his reels. LittleThings spoke with Finn about everything you don’t see behind the scenes.
But first, we need to address the dancing. Finn says, “Most people think I dance a lot, but I honestly only started doing that to get people’s attention on social media so they would read the pet tips I was putting on the screen. I actually like to dance to rap music, to be honest. I am from Louisiana.”
So how did Dr. Hunter Finn from Louisiana become a viral social media sensation?
“I posted a terrible dancing video … with some pet tips, and I woke up the next morning to 30,000 new followers, 15,000 shares, and 12,000 comments arguing about what I was saying and insulting my dancing,” he shares. “It was an anxiety-inducing morning, to say the least, so I turned off my phone and hoped I wasn’t going to be fired from my job. After realizing the opportunity to use social media to help educate pet owners in a fun way, I ran with it and haven’t stopped in two years.”
Going viral on TikTok changed his life. Finn tells LittleThings, "My life has completely changed in all aspects for the better. It has helped me come out of my shell. Most people do not know that I am an extroverted introvert. I have met the love of my life and soon-to-be wife from TikTok. I have met countless colleagues and friends through social media. And, of course, it has given me the courage and confidence to chase my dreams, like opening my first veterinary hospital."
Finn practices a fear-free approach at Pet Method Animal Hospital in McKinney, Texas, and has been a practicing vet for almost three and a half years. He studied at Louisiana State University and was inspired to become a vet by his first puppy, a Maltese named Mardi Gras. Finn reveals, “She was my best friend and honestly made me want to pursue any field where I could repay the love that she showed me. We had lots of dogs growing up, but Mardi Gras was a gift from my mom to me right after her and my dad divorced.”
Today, his followers are very familiar with his golden retriever, Asher. Finn also owns two other dogs, Rugby and Leo, in addition to Gainz (a three-legged cat) and fellow feline Benji. Finn admits, “Asher is the star of the Instagram because he loves the camera and he is my buddy who has been through so many life changes with me. I rescued him halfway through my first year of vet school after the rest of his litter was euthanized due to an odd neurologic condition. The vet then thought it was distemper, but recently this year I had an MRI done on Asher’s brain due to some issues and discovered that he — and I assume his litter — all had a congenital brain defect that caused the signs. He was set to be euthanized, but I wanted to give him a chance, and he has thrived with it. He has been with me through some of my toughest times and will always have a special place in my heart.”
Elaborating on his special bond with Asher, Finn says, “Asher has always had this insanely cute but terrifying head tilt, and I just chalked it up to that’s the way he is. People in vet school would ask me if he was neurologic, and I would just laugh it off. Turns out, after performing the MRI, it’s because he is missing parts of his brain that never developed, but it’s one of his most personifying traits! That or the time where I woke up in the middle of the night and he was peeing on my chest. I’ll never forget that time either, but I couldn’t be mad at him, as I’m a heavy sleeper and didn’t let him out in time.”
Finn is passionate about encouraging the human and canine bond through health and fitness. “I had always been in decent shape in high school and college, but when I got accepted into veterinary school my life changed,” he admits. “I was studying and partying all of the time. There was no balance. It was two extremes that took a serious toll on my mental and physical health. I remember looking at my dog staring out the window because he wanted to go outside as I tried multiple times to get out of my recliner with a beer in hand to go get more Nutella out of my cabinet. I decided right then and there this was not going to be my life and haven’t looked back since. I found a healthier way to bond with my pet, and I encourage other people to get out and do the same. You only live once, and your pet is here for an even shorter time than you are.”
He loves what he does and shares, “The best part about my job is helping animals that would otherwise not get what they need. I am very good at reading animals and problem solving for them, because as we know they cannot tell us what is wrong. It is not the easiest task, and I think that I was created to be a veterinarian from the beginning.”
He’s saved pets from serious issues, including one dog who went undiagnosed by three other vets before coming to his practice. He recalls, “A woman had brought her dog to multiple vets for the same thing, and nothing was found to be wrong. Only because these other vets did a great job and did a complete workup for me was I able to recommend one final diagnostic (an abdominal ultrasound) and found a large abdominal mass. This was the cause of her dog's extremely subtle signs. I very well could have missed this if the other vets hadn’t already done physical exams, lab works, etc. We performed surgery the next day, and the dog had a large intestinal mass in its jejunum. We removed that portion of the intestine and sutured the rest back together and gave her the news. The pathology came back as a very rare malignant tumor, but was fully excised, which meant we cured that dog of the cancer. The woman still prays for me daily for the last two years, and that is something I will always remember when I question myself as a doctor.”
He also solves those oh-no-you-didn’t issues that dog owners encounter. “I have honestly too many crazy stories to list,” he notes. “I had one dog eat a trash can full of tampons, and I recommended surgery to remove them due to the quantity. The owner could not afford surgery, so I figured we might as well try to induce vomiting and see if we can at least reduce the load in the stomach/intestines. The dog proceeded to vomit 23 tampons and walked out that day.”
But the hardest part of his job, he shares, is customer service. “I am in this field because I want to help animals, but sometimes people get in the way. Sometimes, I am able to fix an animal and an owner doesn’t want to perform the treatment (sometimes due to financials and sometimes because that pet just isn’t worth it to them), and that breaks my heart. We learn very soon that no matter how bad we want to make a difference for every pet, we cannot save them all.”
His goal is to “leave this world knowing that I helped as many animals as possible. The best way I can do that is by educating pet owners the best I can and by giving veterinarians the best work environment to be a part of. My hospital is meant to allow veterinarians to thrive, and by training them in the way we practice, I am hoping to change the lives of pets indefinitely into the future.”
That’s why he started, and will continue, posting on social media. “There is so much misinformation out there that pet owners have no idea what's right and what's wrong anymore. This is why I continue strong with social media even on the days that I do not necessarily want to.”
And that’s why he hopes you will follow along.
