Pet Talk Podcast by Alicia Pet Care Center

In Episode 14, we are joined again by the Owner and Chief of Staff: Dr. Matthew Wheaton to discuss poop. Yes, you read that right. We're talking about poop because it is one of the best signs available for being able to tell if something is going on with your pet. We encourage you to find the entire transcribed version of this podcast episode, as an article (if you will) on our podcast's webpage at www.PetTalkPodcast.com You can find Alicia Pet Care Center on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Periscope with our username @APCCvet. We are on Facebook as Alicia Pet Care Center. You can send any questions and topics you'd like us to discuss on a future episode to wecare@mypetsdr.com. Our hospital's website is www.mypetsdr.com and the podcast website is www.PetTalkPodcast.com. Thanks for listening!

In this conversation, Dr. Wheaton talks with us about liver problems in dogs & cats and works to: 1) Give you an overview of the potential causes of liver disease, 2) go over some of the solutions, 3) talk about some of the thought processes that go into figuring out how to determine which cases need a big workup, 4) detail the potential pathways we can go down with treatment and 5) try to chip away at this very confusing, but super common topic to effect the health of dogs and cats. We encourage you to find the entire transcribed version of this podcast episode, as an article (if you will) on our podcast's webpage at www.PetTalkPodcast.com You can find Alicia Pet Care Center on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Periscope with our username @APCCvet. We are on Facebook as Alicia Pet Care Center. You can send any questions and topics you'd like us to discuss on a future episode to wecare@mypetsdr.com. Our hospital's website is www.mypetsdr.com and the podcast website is www.PetTalkPodcast.com. Thanks for listening!

Each of these six RVT's has a unique story to share; which is fitting and should be encouraging to others who want to work in this field. There is not just one path that you have to take to obtain success. And the stories these ladies tell is not representative even of the only paths one can take, either. We are sure there are plenty of others out there who would also have their own unique tale to tell. We should start by stating that our ultimate goal with any employee that comes to us without previous experience is to have them work their way up our version of the corporate ladder. That means starting as a kennel attendant: that gives us the opportunity to observe their work ethic and for them to learn about things like: pet behaviors, proper restraint for treatments and services, medications and how to properly administer some of them and what our hospital’s unique culture is and how to not only work within that culture, but to be a positive contributor to it, as well. Successful kennel attendants have the opportunity given to them to move into our reception team. Whereas the work in kennel is 90% focused on animal-related issues, that gets flipped in reception to 90% working with those pets’ human owners. The work and tasks that got touched on previously, are now more fully saturating their knowledge-base in reception, as these staff members have to effectively communicate so many situations and topics to our clients. For those who want to make the subsequent move into our treatment area, their communication and knowledge skills are thoroughly analyzed before they are able to be looked at for that move. Our hospital prides itself on “practicing what we preach” with this recipe for success. Currently, 4 people in our treatment staff worked previously in reception at APCC and 4 worked in kennel. Out of our 8 receptionists, 4 of them previously worked in kennel. We absolutely feel the benefits of this experience within our hospital. That extends not only to each individual’s level of knowledge with a myriad of things, but also with how well our staff works together… which is of the utmost importance to our success. Amanda, the first person you hear from in this episode, started at our hospital as a 17 year old, still attending high school, as a part time kennel attendant. Amanda was actually one of the very few who got asked to become one of our treatment staff members without spending any time as a receptionist. She spent about 2 years working in treatment before she started going to school to further her abilities here. Kaitlin came to us as an experienced technician from another local hospital. She knew during her senior year in high school that this was what she wanted to do. Following time at Saddleback College, she started working at a local veterinary hospital before she enrolled in a specialty school and took her state and national tests to become an RVT. Hunter came to our hospital from working in clothing retail and made the jump to working as part of our kennel team. It didn’t take long for everyone to recognize her superior customer service skills and she moved into reception. Hunter was one of those people who got moved as a tremendous member of the reception team into the treatment team. She spent roughly 3 years as a technician before she completed her schooling and passed her tests to become an official RVT. Cristie’s path was completely unique in comparison to the others here. She actually went to Saddleback and transferred to Cal Poly Pomona and obtained her bachelor’s degree in animal health science. While she was at Cal Poly Pomona, she completed 4 separate internships in animal hospitals. Independently, she took the state and national tests following that and became a Registered Veterinary Technician prior to becoming part of the APCC team. Lauren also has a very unique path unlike her fellow RVT’s. We met Lauren as she inquired about completing her internship for a local veterinary university. She was welcomed into APCC to complete her required hours as an unpaid intern. During that time, the feeling of wanting to take our working relationship with Lauren to the next level was mutual. We hired her immediately following her graduation and shortly thereafter, she took and passed her tests to become an RVT. Samantha rounds out our conversations on the podcast, fittingly. She is the longest running member of the hospital staff, outside of the Owner, Dr. Wheaton. Samantha was hired as a receptionist way back in the summer of 2005. She had already “paid her dues” as a kennel person, having worked at a grooming facility during her high school years. It wasn’t long before Samantha was forcing the conversation to look at moving her into the treatment team, based on her desire to be a technician as well as her overall fantastic work ethic and ability to work well with everyone: staff and clients alike. Nothing has changed since her move to treatment: Samantha remains an excellent example of what Alicia Pet Care Center has always stood for in its core values: providing the absolute best care for our patients while being extremely dedicated to assisting in the education of our clients on the how’s and why’s of our doctors’ plans for treatment.

This episode is our conversation with a couple of the key members of the Just Food For Dogs company. If you're one of our clients and you've been into our hospital since December of 2017, you've seen the Just Food For Dogs pantry that was built into our lobby. We analyzed Alicia Pet Care Center's standard of care for our patients and the dedication of Just Food For Dogs to improving the lives of your pet. It was a fairly simple conclusion to align our hospital with this progressive pet food company and offer their whole-food nutrition in the most convenient way possible. APCC's Office Manager Tim Wheaton sits down in this episode with Shawn Buckley, the Founder of Just Food For Dogs and their Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Oscar Chavez. While discussing the creation of the company, Shawn and Dr. Chavez both detailed some of their startling discoveries in regards to the ingredients in commercial dog foods. Shawn stated that when he learned what is allowed to be in dog food, he knew that he needed to create something that operated outside of that norm. Dr. Chavez detailed how using ingredients that are USDA-certified for human consumption changes the game of pet nutrition. They both discussed how the pet food industry is practically un-regulated. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) was created to "regulate" how pet food is made. However, this is not a government-regulated entity. As a matter of fact, AAFCO is a voluntary membership association. When the established AAFCO feeding trials were run by the scientists at Dr. Chavez' university, the scientists came back to him with a proposal to up the ante on the standard trials, stating AAFCO's trials were too rudimentary. Dr. Chavez brought that to Shawn, who immediately agreed to push everything further than what other pet food companies were doing. Just Food For Dogs has published a document called the "White Paper", which is "an evidence-based analysis of the dog food industry in the USA". We talked about the toxins, contaminants, and adulterants that get into pet food. Shawn broke down kibble in a fairly simple analysis: you can't put meat in a bag at room temperature for a year... you shouldn't do it for more than an hour. You can't really do it for a day, and they [other pet food companies] do it for a year. So, they implore us to think about what would have to be done to that kibble (that "meat") to put it in a bag for a year at room temperature. The answer is: major chemical preservatives. The most common of those chemicals: ethoxyquin, which is a known carcinogen and is not allowed to be in human food. Dr. Chavez reminded us about the somewhat recent discovery of the barbiturate Pentobarbital in cans of pet food. He put the question out there of "how could something like that happen?". The answer to that is troubling. Dr. Chavez discussed the "compliance policies" created by the FDA that, paired with the lack of regulations on pet food, would allow something extremely unfortunate like this (to put it lightly) to occur. The giants of the industry have thrived on a somewhat "smoke and mirror" approach to advertising their products to the public. Dr. Chavez said it very succinctly when he said: "...they've stopped talking about nutrition; because they can't really do that very well anymore...". In an industry that is full of images of cute puppies and kittens running through perfect, green grass and looking incredibly happy, Just Food For Dogs is inviting anyone and everyone to take a deeper look. Furthermore, in a world where nearly every segment of pet-related industries have kept pace with the idea that so many of us have embraced: that your pet is a member of your family... pet nutrition is the industry that is trailing far behind all others. Veterinarians, veterinary medicine and especially pet owners have all moved forward with the mindset of elevating their pet's status within the household. However, so much of the pet food industry has remained anchored in the past with kibble: something that hasn't progressed in over 70 years. One of the incredibly unique qualities of Just Food For Dogs -- even amongst some of the newer competitors that are, on the outside, seeming to replicate their business model -- they are still the only company in the industry where consumers can be in a kitchen and watch their pet's food be made. In late July, Just Food For Dogs held a "Yappy Hour" and a Cooking Demo right here in Alicia Pet Care Center's lobby for a number of customers and clients. You can learn more about Just Food For Dogs by visiting their website at www.JustFoodForDogs.com. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Periscope with our username @APCCvet. We are on Facebook as Alicia Pet Care Center. You can send any questions and topics you'd like us to discuss on a future episode to wecare@mypetsdr.com. Our hospital's website is www.mypetsdr.com and the podcast website is www.PetTalkPodcast.com. Thanks for listening!

This episode is the conclusion to the spay & neuter conversation with Dr. Wheaton. If you listened to the previous episode, you heard: a multitude of fascinating and eye-opening statistics regarding the pet overpopulation and some of the prevalent issues that are commonly seen when pets are not spayed or neutered. No punches were pulled in the first episode...and that holds true in this equally important second episode. (here's a link to that 1st episode in iTunes for you: Spaying & Neutering Part 1 Dr. Wheaton tackles one of the most pervasive myths about the very real effect that letting your female dog undergo even one heat cycle can have on her health. It's an issue that should not be ignored and, unfortunately, is not as well known by pet owners as it should be. We also discussed some recent studies out of Europe and here in California (at Dr. Wheaton's Alma Mater: UC Davis) that showed some very serious results concerning breast cancer. Dr. Wheaton even shed some light on what spaying or neutering too early in a dog's growth cycle can mean for the growth of its limbs. Perhaps oddly and surprisingly: the limbs tend to grow longer (than they otherwise may have), which can lead to lots of ACL issues. Shortly before the detailing of the surgical process here at APCC was given, Dr. Wheaton talked about how important and life-changing it can be for pet owners to get their pet insured. We created a lengthy article on our blog as a written companion piece to this podcast episode. We will do that with the second half of the episode, as well. You can read over that article and share it with others by clicking here. For the article created from the 1st episode, click here. You can learn more about our affordable spay and neuter program we have set up for new clients at www.practicallyfreespays.com You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Periscope with our username @APCCvet. We are on Facebook as Alicia Pet Care Center. You can send any questions and topics you'd like us to discuss on a future episode to wecare@mypetsdr.com. Our hospital's website is www.mypetsdr.com and the podcast website is www.PetTalkPodcast.com. If you want to see some of how the spay and neuter process takes place here at Alicia Pet Care Center, we have multiple videos from our Ford Petersen Spay Days we hold annually to honor a former employee. You can view Spay Day 2014, Spay Day 2015 and Spay Day 2016 by clicking on any of those links to watch. Thanks for listening!

In this episode, Dr. Wheaton sits down to talk about all things spay and neuter. The information included in this conversation was so robust, we had to break it into two full episodes. This first half of the conversation breaks down the four classes we deal with here at Alicia Pet Care Center: male dogs, female dogs, male cats and female cats. There are some eye-opening (and maybe even jaw-dropping) statistics that get broken down. Some of the possible and fairly commonly seen results of avoiding the surgery for your pet are thoroughly spoken about. On the male side, we discussed what extending the time of testosterone can lead to in your dog or cat: patterns of aggression, urine marking and that embarrassing inclination for your intact male dog to turn a pillow or a stuffed animal or even your favorite neighbor's leg into his "hump buddy". On the female side, Dr. Wheaton really got into some of the nitty-gritty on how much spaying your pet can cut down the risk of certain cancers. Dr. Wheaton also detailed something called a Pyometra and what that can entail for your pet and for you. Specifically, with the female cat, we talked about how they are "induced ovulators" and what that can lead to for you cat owners. We created a lengthy article on our blog as a written companion piece to this podcast episode. We will do that with the second half of the episode, as well. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Periscope with our username @APCCvet. We are on Facebook as Alicia Pet Care Center. You can send any questions and topics you'd like us to discuss on a future episode to wecare@mypetsdr.com. Our hospital's website is www.mypetsdr.com and the podcast website is www.PetTalkPodcast.com. Thanks for listening!

For this episode, we brought in a special guest that has worked for years with many of our client's pets: Vladae Roytapel aka The Russian Dog Wizard. Vladae originally started his career in dog training in the former Soviet Union; he was a Red Army and Soviet Union Government awarded trainer before relocating to Michigan here in the USA. Since that time, the decoration of Vladae as a world-renowned professional dog trainer has continued. He won multiple awards during his time in Michigan, including honors from the state government. During his time in the midwest, Vladae become very popular through multiple news programs, radio shows and even appearances on CNN and Late Night with David Letterman. Vladae is now located in Southern California's Orange County. He has been named the #1 ranked Best Pet Trainer for the OC Hot List awards in 2014 and 2016. Vladae offers affordable dog training classes of many varieties. His extremely effective dog training techniques are based on his stunning ability to communicate directly with your dog during training and then teaching you (the human) the same techniques. You can listen to us talk about the top 3 reasons that pet owners struggle with their dogs. Vladae discusses some of the techniques that he uses with his clients that have been amazing people for well over a decade now; many times with immediate same-day results. You can find Vladae online by either simply googling "Russian Dog Wizard" or by checking out his website at www.socaldogtraining.com You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Periscope with our username @APCCvet. We are on Facebook as Alicia Pet Care Center. You can send any questions and topics you'd like us to discuss on a future episode to wecare@mypetsdr.com. Our hospital's website is www.mypetsdr.com and the podcast website is www.PetTalkPodcast.com.

Episode 007: In this shorter episode, Dr. Ashley Dewey sits in front of the mic to fill us in on her usage of acupuncture in the hospital, what led Dr. Dewey to the world of acupuncture in the first place and how that all catapulted her into learning the technique. She details those stories and the process of acupuncture in general. We then discuss some of the amazing results we have seen with some of our own patients here at Alicia Pet Care Center. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Periscope with our username @APCCvet. We are on Facebook as Alicia Pet Care Center. You can send any questions and topics you'd like us to discuss on a future episode to wecare@mypetsdr.com. Our hospital's website is www.mypetsdr.com and the podcast website is www.PetTalkPodcast.com.

For this episode, we sat down with integral members of The Pet Rescue Center: Development Director Jan Henry, Operations Director Kati Winters, Executive Director and Co-Founder Blythe Wheaton as well as a brief introduction by Medical Director, Board President and Co-Founder Dr. Matthew Wheaton. A great deal of information is thoroughly gone over with these guests, helping us learn more, not only about The Pet Rescue Center, but about the world of pet rescue, in general. Alicia Pet Care Center partners with a large number of local rescues because of how much we care about helping homeless animals and the people that endeavor to shepherd them through their struggles to the point of finding their forever homes. We continue to be one of the largest, most-caring, state-of-the-art veterinary hospitals in all of South Orange County that prides itself with immeasurable compassion for rescue and a well-educated and motivated staff. To learn more about the Pet Rescue Center, please visit their website at www.thepetrescuecenter.org You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Periscope with our username @APCCvet. We are on Facebook as Alicia Pet Care Center. You can send any questions and topics you'd like us to discuss on a future episode to wecare@mypetsdr.com. Our hospital's website is www.mypetsdr.com and the podcast website is www.PetTalkPodcast.com. Thanks for listening!

Episode 005: This is a shorter episode focused on a discussion with Alicia Pet Care Center's Dr. Brömme, talking about her recent trip to Guatemala. She was involved with Veterinarians International to provide services to a large number of local pets for surgeries and vaccines and general assistance for the pets of Todos Santos. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Periscope with our username @APCCvet. We are on Facebook as Alicia Pet Care Center. You can send any questions and topics you'd like us to discuss on a future episode to wecare@mypetsdr.com. Our hospital's website is www.mypetsdr.com and the podcast website is www.PetTalkPodcast.com.

Dr. Maria Brömme and Dr. Matthew Wheaton are sitting down with us for this episode that is geared at cats and has a ton of great information for you cat owners. One of the things that is at the absolute base of all things about domestic cats that gets ignored a lot is that, truly, cats are wild animals. Part of that is the fact that cats are actually strict carnivores. The conversation begins with Dr. Wheaton talking a lot about the dietary needs of a cat. The food part of a diet for a cat relates so strongly to their intake of water as well, and he breaks that down for us also. Dr. Brömme takes over with how a cat as a wild animal affects their lifestyle at home: what they need at home to satiate those desires they have. Hunting, climbing, hiding, scratching... cats crave space of their own and it will benefit everyone if you consider all of their natural tendencies. As if all of that wasn't enough, the doctors talk about how a cat's diet and water intake affects their elimination and waste (their poops and their peeps) and there is a full rundown on litter boxes. Cat owners should come to this episode with a huge, empty mug because the doctors are about to fill it up with a ton of mind-blowing information about those finicky felines you share your home with. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Periscope with our username @APCCvet. We are on Facebook as Alicia Pet Care Center. You can send any questions and topics you'd like us to discuss on a future episode to wecare@mypetsdr.com. Our hospital's website is www.mypetsdr.com and the podcast website is www.PetTalkPodcast.com.

In this episode, Dr. Wheaton And Dr. Forman go over a couple of topics that our clients wanted us to cover and it led into quite the informative conversation. The first topic was regarding bathing your dog: how much is too much, can it be overdone, etc. Dr. Wheaton expanded this topic a bit, bringing potential reasons for having an "itchy dog" into the conversation. Dr. Forman gave some insight into shampoos as well. We talked about bathing your cat and how well or poorly they do with self-grooming. We even went over what to do when your pet gets sprayed by a skunk. This conversation segued into some of the pet fashion fads: from the benign coloring of their fur to the extremes that we have witnessed that can be extremely harmful to your pet. The ideas behind ear cropping, tail docking and even the removal of dew claws were discussed at length by the doctors.

This episode of the podcast features Dr. Ashley Dewey and Dr. Neal Forman. They sit down with three topics brought to us by clients of ours (and some other people via social media). We tackled what can happen when your pet is stung by a bee. A major source of this question actually came from the photo above, of this puppy who got stung and gave a very obvious reaction of the puffy face you see here. What if this was your dog, and what can or should you do at home? Speaking of what you can do at home, up next we talk about some home remedies, with a very specific discussion about the all too popular coconut oil. The doctors talk about some of what they have experienced with some of our own clients and how far you should put your faith in oils. Finally, a topic geared to cat owners. We have had a lot of people ask us what they can do when their cats decide to "think outside the box" ... or rather, do their business outside of it. If you've got a perfectly good litter box in your house, why are they not using it? The doctors talk about some potential contributing factors and what you can do about some of these.

On this introductory episode for the podcast, we sit with the current doctors of Alicia Pet Care Center to help you meet and get to know more about the people you will hear most on the podcast episodes. Dr. Neal Forman, Dr. Maria Brömme, Dr. Ashley Dewey, Dr. Sarah Northrop and practice owner and veterinarian Dr. Matthew Wheaton all spoke with Office Manager and podcast host, Tim Wheaton, to give a little of their personal history and how their life and career journey brought them to APCC. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Periscope with our username @APCCvet. We are on Facebook as Alicia Pet Care Center. You can send any questions and topics you'd like us to discuss on a future episode to wecare@mypetsdr.com. Our hospital's website is www.mypetsdr.com and the podcast website is www.PetTalkPodcast.com.