Duration: 52:48:00
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Welcome to Episode 19.
Listen in as we welcome back Dr. Brad Miller from his European vacation!
We will recap last weeks episode about the 4th of July, the recent FDA 'grain-free' dog food study and our recommended brands, and our cat Fact or Fiction discussion.
Dr. Miller will talk about his vacation to Ireland and London. He also wanted to extend a special thanks to all of GVA and Russell Ridge for running so smoothly in his absence. Because of this, he was able to fully enjoy the time off with his family. He'll talk about how many different types of sheep he saw while in Ireland and his disappointment in not seeing any puffins while at the Cliffs of Moher. He'll talk about his favorite location in London; Westminster Abbey. How he saw the graves of famous people such as Charles Darwin and William Shakespeare. He'll also talk about the London Eye, a large cantilevered observation wheel in downtown London sponsored by Atlanta's own Coca-Cola Company as well as some fun fact's about the Tower of London and the famous Beefeaters. He'll also talk about how animal marketing isn't a huge deal in the UK compared to the US.
On Thursday, July 18th GVA and Burger 21 in Buford will be teaming up to help raise money for the CARE Fun! From open to close, mention the GVA CARE Fund and 10% of the sale will be donated directly to the CARE Fund. Join us from 6 to 8 on Burger 21's dog-friendly patio for raffle prizes and so much more. Check out the event on Facebook. We are also hosting out 4th annual Run For The Noses 5k August 10th. Register here and help support the GVA CARE Fund by getting active. This is also a dog-friendly event so feel free to bring the whole family. We will also be giving out medals for the fastest time in certain age categories.
In other GVA news, we'd like to congratulate Dr. Brad Stephens and his family on the arrival of their new baby girl. We would also like to welcome our new Veterinarian, Dr. Kim Conner, a recent UGA grad who was externing with us. We are excited she has decided to come on board with us and can't wait for you to meet her.
We also will talk about how proud we are to have an evolving staff. By this, we mean having employees start at an entry-level position and rise through our ranks and continue their education with the GVA family. By doing this we feel we have a fully coherent staff that understands our values, is well known by our clientele and is integrated into the GVA way! One of our first Registered Veterinary Technician's to do this was Jaritza Catalan. Jaritza started as a Kennel Assistant and within the 5 years she has been with GVA, she has risen to a fully licensed Registered Veterinary Technician. We also love when Registered Veterinary Technician student's who extern with us decided to come on board with us full time once they graduate. So far we have had 3 success stories with Nataly Rodriguez, Drue Harris, and Naki Smalls. We are also excited to have two of our current Pet Care Staff investing in their future and taking the leap to continue their education. Kaitlyn Duncan is in her 2nd year in the Gwinnett Technical College Veterinary Technology program and Maddie Drinkwater was just accepted and is planned to start her first year in the fall.
We will talk about industry news such as a new training vest that uses small vibrations much like the ones in a smartwatch to give a dog that may be blind or hard of hearing commands. We will talk about Toxoplasmosis and new research that would reduce the need for testing on cats when researching this common parasite.
We'll talk about the outbreak of a possible new Distemper virus, Asia-1, in El Paso, TX and touch on the difference of having your pet immunized vs. vaccinated and how the virus made its way to the United States. Dogs who are currently immunized from the current strain of distemper shouldn't be at risk for contracting this new strain, however, if your pet is not immunized or kept up to date with their vaccinations then they may be at risk. We suggest speaking with your veterinarian about your pet's risk.
We'll also touch on vaccine and other safety protocols that should be followed despite our emotional feeling and discuss a case where a virus was brought over from Turkey and how UGA was able to isolate and diagnose the illness.
We will also introduce you to our newest form of heartworm prevention ProHeart12, a new-to-us, and yearly injection for the prevention of Heartworm and comes with a 100% grantee. That means if you stay up to date with this yearly injectable and yearly heartworm tests, if your dog gets infected they will pay for treatment.
Lastly, we will talk about the animals trafficking trade for exotics and exotic animals parts.
