Farewell Starlight Pet Talk: Celebrating Our Journey and What's Next for 2025

As we wrap up Starlight Pet Talk, we’re taking a moment to celebrate everything this podcast has meant over the past two years. This episode is all about gratitude, reflection, and a little bit of fun as we look back on the episodes that resonated most with you – our incredible listeners.

In this episode, we’re:
 • Reflecting on the core mission of Starlight Pet Talk – connecting with and educating pet parents with honesty and heart.
• Sharing memorable stories and moments that capture the ups and downs of pet ownership.
• Highlighting amazing community support and standout listener interactions that have shaped this podcast.
• Looking back at the most downloaded episodes of 2024 and why they stood out.
• Offering a sneak peek at what’s ahead with Muddy Paws and Hairballs – keeping the same values, but adding fresh energy and topics.

This isn’t goodbye – it’s just the next chapter. Thank you for being part of this journey. We can’t wait to see you in the next phase!

Let me know if this feels more aligned, or if there’s something specific you’d like me to highlight further.

Chapters

• 0:02 End of an Era
• 12:12 Top Pet Care Tips & Insights
• 19:06 Responsible Pet Ownership & Financial Care
• 31:00 Fixing Common Dog Behavior Issues
• 39:18 Veterinary Vaccines and Military Pet Rescue
• 52:45 Podcast Endorsement and Pet Love

Transcript

Amy Castro: 0:02

Muddy Paws and Hairballs is going to be ready to launch in 2025. But this last episode is our final episode of Starlight Pet Talk and we're going to wrap up by talking about the top episodes of the year and why they were so popular. So stay tuned. All right, everybody, welcome to Muddy Paws and Hairballs. But in reality, this is the final episode of Starlight Pet Talk and, as I said in my I know it's sad, it's a. You know it's. It's a chapter. Yes, I was going to say the end of an era, but I don't know. Does it? Does two years really count as an era? It's a chapter. It's a chapter. End of a chapter, beginning of a new and exciting chapter. I'm here with my friend Bev, as you can hear her cackling in the background.

Amy Castro: 1:04

So what we're going to do is we're going to talk about the top episodes of Starlight Pet Talk for 2024, not overall. If you want to go back and know what the overall ones, then you've got to listen to the top episodes of 2023 and 2024, and then you can do the math on your own. But we will get to that in just a minute. But first of all, I want to talk about good news and bad news, because I wanted to share a little. Like I said when we started Muddy Paws, that we're going to get down and dirty and real, and so I just want to tell you a little bit about my morning so far, because we're going to start with the bad news so far, because we're going to start with the bad news.

Bev Brooks: 1:44

Can I just tell everybody that this is how most of our conversations start. We speak several times a week and they usually start with let me tell you what happened last night.

Amy Castro: 1:52

Yeah Well, yeah so, yeah. So Bev actually has relatives who thinks I don't have any friends because I call Bev so much. It's kind of like talking to your sister, right, you get up, you do your little chores, you sit down with your cup of coffee and you call your sister and you'll be like, hey, what happened to me? But usually the conversation starts with you know what my favorite thing is, or what I like to do is I call up and I asked to speak to the complaint department and then she does this whole routine. Would you like to do it? Let's just demonstrate it, okay.

Bev Brooks: 2:27

Oh. I haven't done it in so long? All right, we'll give it a shot.

Amy Castro: 2:30

It's been a little while, so I'll actually I'll launch into the bad news by using this as the platform and then I'll give you all the good news, but anyway. So ring, ring, ring, phone rings. Bev answers the phone, she says Hello and I say I'd like to speak to somebody in the pet complaint department, please.

Bev Brooks: 2:52

Hold on one second please.

Amy Castro: 2:59

The complaint department. Is it involving a mineral, a animal or a?

Bev Brooks: 3:04

vegetable Animal and vegetable because it involves a pet and puke? Is that vegetable Animal and vegetable because it involves a pet and puke? Complaint department. This is the vegetable department. Can I help you?

Amy Castro: 3:14

And then the conversation goes like from there. Because I have seven animals living in my house right now, I have been trying to identify which of the seven animals is pooping and peeing around my house, because I'm tired of stepping in it, I'm tired of picking it up. And so I spent the weekend, while Kelsey was out of town, trying to isolate certain pets at night to see who leaves the big surprise in the morning and where it is. And so this morning, since Kelsey is now back from her trip, she took her dog Gigi, because I think she's one of the suspects personally, I've seen her in action. She took her back in her room overnight and I put all of the dogs in the dining room, which is now just a giant dog pen in there last night and figured we would see what happens.

Amy Castro: 4:07

Well, there was nothing on the floor in the dining room. I'm assuming nobody peed in Kelsey's bed. But there were two turds by the front door and upon closer inspection, when I went to clean them up, they were cold. So it wasn't like somebody did it like after I let them out this morning, because it was like five o'clock in the morning it was dark, so somebody did it a while ago. So it was either a cat, because the cats were on the loose, or it happened last night before I put everybody up. So I'm no no wiser, but I did spend my morning, once again, cleaning up poop. Oh, and then somebody puked from the kitchen out all the way out to the front door. It was like a long day.

Amy Castro: 4:50

Yeah, I think it was puke. I mean I, I didn't want to, I didn't want to inspect it too closely.

Bev Brooks: 4:55

Couple of thoughts? Yeah, Couple of thoughts. This sounds very complicated, but definitely necessary. But cold turds yeah. How did we discover that?

Amy Castro: 5:09

Well, when I picked them up in the paper towel, it wasn't soft and warm.

Bev Brooks: 5:13

So you didn't step in it and discover it that way.

Amy Castro: 5:15

No, no, but that has happened before. The other morning I came out of my bedroom at 5.15, and luckily there was enough light coming from outside that I could see two things on the floor directly. I think they do it directly in line of a door, so somebody steps in it. Because there were two things on the ground spaced about two feet apart between my route from my bedroom to the back door to let the dogs out. So of course I circumvented those things, because they could have been anything right. They could have been turds, they could have been toys, and it was two turds, two separate piles of turds, small piles.

Bev Brooks: 5:52

So what is happening? What is happening.

Amy Castro: 5:55

I don't know. Somebody's lost their damn mind, so I got to figure out who it is, because I'm getting ready to move into an RV with all of these jerks and it's not going to be pretty. But we'll, we'll work on it. I think I probably just need to start leaving out maybe one or two, cause I know for sure it's not Gunny and it's not Sassy the two big dogs. So maybe leave one little dog, one big dog out and then see what happens.

Bev Brooks: 6:20

And then I'll miss that little dog, but anyway yeah, I wonder if other people have this issue.

Amy Castro: 6:26

I'm sure, I'm sure they do. I mean not people that don't have pets.

Bev Brooks: 6:31

Well, I mean someone who's got a good quantity. Would you have five, seven animals, seven?

Amy Castro: 6:36

There's seven running around inside the house right now. Is that counting Kelsey? No, that, no, that would be eight, and two of them are blind. So I know that, especially the blind cat, probably her life is a little stressful. We just started her on Prozac.

Bev Brooks: 6:50

Yeah, so yeah, I just, it's just, I wish there was a solution. You're doing the right thing, like the process of elimination, you know, yeah, elimination. You see what I did there.

Amy Castro: 7:02

Yeah, very funny, all right, so let's move on from elimination and the bad news.

Bev Brooks: 7:07

So that was the bad news.

Amy Castro: 7:08

Is that my life continues to be mornings of cleaning up poop or pee or both. Today it was just poop, so that I guess wasn't too bad, oh and puke Sorry. So two out of three peas.

Bev Brooks: 7:21

It makes me feel better about my life.

Amy Castro: 7:23

Yeah, you don't have any bad news you want to share.

Bev Brooks: 7:27

No, because he's perfect in every way. When he's going to puke, he gives me a lot of warning, so I can grab some newspaper, and you know we're good Newspaper what you read while he's doing it. Yes, I read while he's puking. Poor little thing.

Amy Castro: 7:41

So what do you do? Toss the paper in front of his mouth. Yeah, oh, good Lord, have mercy, oh, yeah, there's no privacy, there's no secrets.

Bev Brooks: 7:52

I'll tell you what, though. The house is cold, he's got two heating pads and he is cold.

Amy Castro: 7:56

Yeah.

Bev Brooks: 7:58

It's like 62 degrees in here.

Amy Castro: 8:00

Yeah, okay, all right. So on to the good news, because I'm only allotting a certain amount of time to this BS that's happening in the beginning of this show.

Bev Brooks: 8:07

Wow.

Amy Castro: 8:07

So the good news is and I'll give you the Reader's Digest version of the story so a very nice donor and supporter of Starlight Outreach and Rescue named Julie went I don't know if it was when she moved, but anyway she donated a really nice Dyson vacuum cleaner to us for the rescue and it has been a godsend. I mean, it's a great vacuum cleaner, it really. It's got that clear canister so you can see how much crap is on the floor. It's crazy. It's a hot mess. It's got a super long vacuum cord, so it's a really nice, nice vacuum cleaner. Anyway, we've put it to great use here at the rescue and unfortunately, as happens with most things, I don't put things away, and so at one point I did not put the vacuum cleaner away, I left it unattended and somebody decided to chew off the plug. So yeah, yeah, because that's what we do.

Bev Brooks: 9:06

Because that's what we do. This is nothing new. This is nothing new. It happens all the time at your house.

Amy Castro: 9:11

I know I just for the second time fixed the hose to the pool, the $700 pool cleaner that they chewed through the electric cord on that one too.

Bev Brooks: 9:21

Luckily it wasn't plugged in.

Amy Castro: 9:23

But anyway. So they chewed the cord off. I fixed it, but I'm always afraid that it's going to catch fire, because obviously I'm not an electrician. Um, so anyway I I thought, well, maybe I could contact Dyson and see if I can purchase a replacement cord, which you apparently can. So I'm chatting with them online and they're going to send me a replacement cord for free. This is back in June. So I'm chatting with them online and they're going to send me a replacement cord for free. This is back in June. So, super excited, I'm going to get this replacement cord.

Amy Castro: 9:51

And then I kind of forgot about it, and now it's six months later and I still don't have the cord. So I decided the other day to follow up. Well, apparently that cord for that vacuum cleaner is on back order to infinity, Like it's just not going to happen. So and this is the kicker, you guys, this is good customer service right here, because, even if people don't necessarily always give Dysons the best review, I probably will buy Dysons from here on out when I need a new vacuum cleaner for myself, just because of this, because not only were they very apologetic that the cord never came and that they were still waiting on it, but they are going to replace the entire vacuum cleaner and I and I will be on. I am very honest, like I specifically told them, my dogs chewed this cord Cause. When they were going to give me a free cord, I was like, well, it's not like it just broke, but my animals chewed through it, it's my fault and they were like we don't care, it's under warranty till 2026.

Bev Brooks: 10:49

Crazy, crazy.

Amy Castro: 10:50

Thank you, Julie. So yeah, so now I'm going to get a brand new, new model like not a refurbished, a new vacuum cleaner, and they're going to pay for me to ship the whole vacuum cleaner back.

Bev Brooks: 11:02

That's crazy. I would. I would buy a Dyson just based on that too. Yeah, that's awesome that they'll do that.

Amy Castro: 11:10

That's the good news.

Bev Brooks: 11:11

That's the very good news.

Amy Castro: 11:13

Here's the other beautiful thing is that the new Dyson will come in a box and so that when I go to move, when I will keep the box, and when I go to move in a couple of months, I will be able to put the Dyson in the box and protect it during the move.

Bev Brooks: 11:25

There you go, win-win.

Amy Castro: 11:26

Win-win.

Bev Brooks: 11:27

So thank you, dyson no that is very good customer service, absolutely yeah.

Amy Castro: 11:32

All right.

Amy Castro: 11:33

So moving right along we're going to get into our top episodes of 2024 of Starlight Pet Talk. We are not going to discuss all 10, but I do want to let you know what the top 10 ones were and then we're going to discuss the top five. So number 10 was season and all of 2024 was basically season two. So it was season two, episode 81. And it was does your dog have separation anxiety? With our trainer friend Ruth Hegarty.

Amy Castro: 12:02

So I think that was a great episode because I think things get labeled as separation anxiety when maybe they're not. So you definitely need to listen to that one. We're not going into gory detail. Episode number the ninth most popular episode was season two, episode 62 on lap of love, home hospice and euthanasia for pets Again, a great option for being able to plan and coordinate your pet's euthanasia if you have to, and make it a pleasant experience for, or as pleasant as it can be for you and for your pets. Number eight was season two, episode 67, unlocking the Human-Animal Bond Secrets from the Human-Animal Bond Research Institute, which I thought was really fascinating. I mean a whole organization that is just dedicated to research on how much our pets positively impact our lives.

Bev Brooks: 12:54

Yeah, yeah.

Amy Castro: 12:56

Episode number seven was season two, episode 82, 1,672 Miles to a Forever Home Bonnie's Journey. Yeah, so that was Bev and my rescue road trip where we drove crazy Bonnie, Although she was really good on that trip, wouldn't you say.

Bev Brooks: 13:12

She was more sane than both of us put together. Although, yeah, yeah, it doesn't take much, it doesn't take much, yeah.

Amy Castro: 13:20

So that was a fun episode to do, just to kind of recount our journey. The sixth most popular episode was Season 2, episode 78, life with Pets Hidden Benefits Revealed the original title. I've changed up some of the titles. The original title was the Surprising Mental, physical and Social Benefits of Living with Pets with my friend Denise Dudley out in Colorado. So she actually is a, you know, works with human beings but has pets and has done a lot of research on the impact of pets in our lives. So that was fun. And so those were 10 through 6. And so we're going to discuss 5 through 1, and then maybe throw in a couple of thoughts on our own personal favorite. Hold on, I've got notes I've got to file through here. So the number five I know you've got notes too. Mine are typed, yours are handwritten, okay.

Amy Castro: 14:10

So the fifth most popular episode of season two was season two, episode 79, pro Tips for Extending your Pet's Life with my friend Dr Marlene Siegel down in Florida.

Amy Castro: 14:27

I think this one probably resonated most with listeners because it really gave you some actionable steps, for you know things that you could do for focusing on longevity and well-being for your pets. So we talked about things like eliminating toxins, because there's so many that we are exposed to as humans, that also our pets are exposed to essential nutrients. Healing the gut which I thought was also super interesting, because it's such a tie over to human beings as well that our gut health impacts and who knew until the most recent years how much your gut health impacts the rest of your health? Detoxifying your organs and then really getting down on the DNA level, you know, supporting mitochondrial functions and then emotional health. That was another area. So those were kind of some of the things that came out in that episode. What were your and I don't know if that was one of your favorites or necessarily Bev, but what were your thoughts on that episode?

Bev Brooks: 15:21

The takeaway for me was anybody can do this. The changes are really, really doable. They're really small and it can make a huge impact down the road. You might not see an overnight makeover, but just by increasing water intake or little that's what I had written down inflammation and water intake and things like that such a simple thing can change your pet's life. I mean, it's just so simple. Yeah, my takeaway was that anybody can do this. It's very simple to make these little, small changes, absolutely.

Amy Castro: 15:52

Yeah, and I think we've had a couple of episodes that have been around that issue and I know personally that, like every time I've done one of these episodes, I start looking at my pet's food and you know getting I got a water fountain. I've been adding water to the cat's food. You know, even the other day I was in the kitchen doing the dog's food and you know I've not gotten to the point where I'm going to be cooking dog food but it's like what do I have in the fridge that I can toss in here that would enhance this meal that I'm giving them Right, and it's such a simple thing, you know.

Bev Brooks: 16:25

And if you go buy a pint of blueberries in the grocery store and just toss it in there, it's fine. Anything helps. Yeah, that was definitely. It's definitely changed Kuzzy's lifestyle, perhaps not from this particular episode, but previous ones about water intake and reading the ingredient label, you can learn.

Amy Castro: 16:44

And reading the ingredient label.

Bev Brooks: 16:45

You can learn. God bless you, amy, because it was a whole education for me all of last year and this year. Read those labels, people, and you will be shocked, absolutely shocked, so you can make better choices. You might pay for it, you might not. It might not be a huge monetary thing, but isn't your pet worth it?

Amy Castro: 17:03

Yeah, I know, because he is Well and you're going to pay for it on one end or the other. You know, like the intake, this uh, the blind cat that we have, has uh already had bladder stone surgery when she was barely over a year old.

Bev Brooks: 17:18

Yeah.

Amy Castro: 17:18

And she's already got some floating around in there again. So you know, the water intake, I think, has helped. You know, keep it at bay. At least they're not getting bigger. And so it's, yeah, like you said, little bitty changes along the way, for sure.

Bev Brooks: 17:34

Very, very doable, absolutely.

Amy Castro: 17:36

So hopefully we'll get Dr Marlene back on the show and talk about more things we could be doing along the way. All right, moving along. The fourth most popular episode was season two, episode 53, responsible Rabbit Care Explained. Again, I've changed the titles a little bit with Muddy Paws, I've shortened them up a little bit, but the original title was Beyond the Fluff Rabbit Realities and Responsible Guardianship Cute, yeah, and that was with Marcy Berman.

Amy Castro: 18:06

She is the president and founder of Save a Bunny Rabbit Rescue out in California and I think the thing for me, one of the biggest things for me, was how much care rabbits because I have had a rabbit and I knew something about rabbit care but in order for them to really live an optimal life, how much care they need, what things can go wrong with rabbits. I was super lucky, nothing ever went wrong with this bunny but things can certainly go wrong if they're not getting the proper diet and proper care. So some of the things that came up in that episode were misconceptions that you know that rabbits were super low maintenance and easy starter pets, the importance of spaying and neutering which I only had one bunny but even for having one bunny, how that could impact their behavior and things like that. Their need for mental stimulation and social interaction no idea, and that's what makes me feel really guilty about the bunny that I had. Yeah.

Bev Brooks: 19:03

I was going to say when you know better, you do better. That's why these podcasts are great. I didn't know anything about bunnies. I had no clue, so yeah, if I was to get one now, this is great. I know what I'm getting into.

Amy Castro: 19:14

Yeah, yeah, there's quite a bit, even just their habitat and how that needs to be. Yeah, let's see. Oh, ethical consideration in shelters you know what happens to rabbits when they end up in shelters and you know what kind of specialized care they might need. Because I know we ran into that a couple of times where we've gotten, when I used to volunteer at a shelter and they'd get an animal in that you know it wasn't a dog or a cat and they had no supplies and not really a huge inclination to go and get them. It's like how long are you gonna leave that animal without food? And then educational outreach, I think, was another thing the importance of really educating, and I think Save a Bunny does a good job of not only matching appropriate bunny to the appropriate adopter but also educating people on their needs and their care. So I know that was a big thing to me, Like I've kind of decided that I probably wouldn't have a bunny, maybe once my herd got culled down a little bit, but I can't give it that attention and I certainly don't want multiples. So it's interesting, it really gets you thinking about them on a different level.

Amy Castro: 20:19

And then the one other thing I did want to bring up was the whole conversation about bunnies being used as food for animals. That was something that I thought I'd never really thought about that. I was looking at food the other day trying to find a limited ingredient and it was like rabbit meat and I kind of cringed because one of Marcy's key points in that episode was yes, if you, if you're, if you haven't a pet, that is a carnivore, like a cat, and the only thing that they can eat without having a horrific reaction is rabbit, then yes, make that available on a special order basis. But the fact that we're making all of these products with rabbit meat, we're basically introducing another animal beyond the chickens and the other animals that are already being killed for us to eat and for animals to eat. Everybody's dog doesn't need to eat rabbits, so if we didn't allow that to happen, then a lot less rabbits would die.

Bev Brooks: 21:14

Right, right, that goes back to reading those labels. You know my takeaway was more of a cultural thing. She made this comment. She said rabbits are where cats used to be, and that broke my heart. You know it's like the way we dote on our cats. They didn't used to be that way, it was always, I guess, the dogs first. You know it's like the way we dote on our cats. They didn't used to be that way, it was always, I guess, the dogs first. You know, back 40 million years or whatever it was. And now cats have become that you know, a multi-billion dollar industry and rabbits are just kind of thought about as like oh yeah, look a rabbit. You know it's, and that's the way cats used to be thought of. I just it just broke my heart that they're just like second class citizens and they're not. It's your responsibility. If you have a pet to take care of it. You take care of it. Yeah, soup to nuts, yeah.

Amy Castro: 22:04

Yeah, yeah, I think that Well, and that's kind of a little hang up that I have in general about you know, you see these videos of unusual animals that are now being, you know, brought in as pets and it's like do you really need an armadillo as a pet? Do you really need, you know, some of these exotic animals that get not necessarily bred in captivity but captured other places, but captured other places? And you know, it's like, it's kind of like I got into an argument with somebody the other day, once again on the rescue side of things, about declawing cats. And, you know, having a cat is not a right. So therefore, if you can't keep it in physically intact without amputating its toes or you're allergic, so now you want to have people breed hairless cats that self mutilate every time they're bathing themselves with their barbed tongues? Maybe you just don't get a cat, maybe you're just not allowed you know, not allowed to have one.

Amy Castro: 23:08

It's just agreed you move on and get something else.

Bev Brooks: 23:11

You know it's not the cat's fault. You have allergies or they have expensive furniture, yeah, sorry at that point, what's the point? What's the point if it's, if it's, if your furniture is going to get ruined, if you have poor allergies, you know that that particular pet is not for you. Try goldfish, see, see what that and even that has.

Amy Castro: 23:28

But I want one, yeah, yeah and that's the that, the thing it's like just because you want it doesn't mean you get to have it.

Bev Brooks: 23:35

Life's not like that, yeah.

Amy Castro: 23:37

But yet I get into arguments with people all the time. So I think it's the same with bunnies. If you can't listen to that episode and say, yes, I can provide this kind of life and lifestyle for this animal, you shouldn't have one.

Bev Brooks: 23:48

Exactly. That's a great point. That's what these podcasts are so great. You're going into it with eyes wide open. You know what? That type of dog is not the dog for me. This type of dog is the dog for me. It's not about being turned down for adoption, it's about what's the best fit. I mean, you've been preaching that forever. You got to have the best fit. And if it's not going to be the dog that you want, take the are best fitted to and give that dog a home.

Amy Castro: 24:11

Yeah, because people are just super selfish, they want what they want and it's just very aggravating, very aggravating. Anyway, we could do a whole episode on that.

Amy Castro: 24:20

I think we should have done it to a certain degree. Yeah, all right, moving right along. The third most popular episode was I've got too many papers going on. Here was Season 2, episode 80 with Jonathan Weinberg of Synchrony parent company, of Care Credit with expert advice for paying for and saving on your vet bills.

Amy Castro: 24:40

I think that is such a huge topic in this day and age. I mean the fact that there is such a thing as economic euthanasia you know, people that have animals that could absolutely be saved. They just can't afford to do it and have no means to pay for it and therefore the animal gets euthanized is a bit appalling. So what we discussed and I'll just kind of run down the quick topics here we talked about the importance of preventative care and it kind of goes back to the whole food and diet. Like if we spend the money on the food and diet, then you're not going to have those issues with cancer and other things later on that you might have when you feed crappy food. So the importance of regular checkups facts, you know appropriate vaccinations, parasite prevention.

Amy Castro: 25:24

We talked briefly about pet insurance, but we did a whole episode about pet insurance, so I didn't, we didn't go too far down that road.

Amy Castro: 25:27

The importance of having an emergency fund, the importance of understanding what your care options are.

Amy Castro: 25:34

You know it's like whether it's a low cost clinic or, you know, getting certain things done from your vet and certain things through other community resources, negotiating payment plans. And then you know and I would like to do a whole episode on this and I think I probably will in 2025, is finding the words to have the conversation and being brave enough to have the conversation with your vet about care options, because vets are going to offer you the optimal treatment or the gold standard treatment, and that may not be the only treatment. There may be step ups that you can do towards that treatment to see if certain things work. And we just don't. You know, we kind of hear what it is, we hear the price tag and we say yay or nay without discussion, and I think that communication is so important and most vets are super open to it, and if they're not, I think you need to find another vet. That's a whole nother episode too, but anyway, what did you think about that episode, bev?

Bev Brooks: 26:27

I was thinking the same thing. What struck me after listening to it was how many options there are. Get creative as far as health care, whether it's doing your own financial saving or whatever. But, like you said, your vet is always willing to work with you. I have yet to meet not that I meet them a lot, but I have yet to meet a vet that isn't open-minded enough to work with you. It's all about the care of the pet. Yes, they are in it for the profit they have to run their business, but they're still willing to be creative as far as health care goes with their pet.

Bev Brooks: 26:56

Yeah, that was a good episode. Surprisingly number three to me, because I didn't realize that, because I'm so blessed with a healthy income that I didn't realize this was like a make or break type of thing for people, and it breaks my heart that if you can't afford certain options, that you have to let the pet go. But this is I mean, this is what Starlight was doing, also doing that outreach, like the Great Dane the Great Dane that you had that was hit by a car and the family couldn't afford it.

Bev Brooks: 27:22

That that's the outreach part of Starlight. You know you assisted them.

Amy Castro: 27:26

Yeah.

Bev Brooks: 27:27

You know yeah.

Amy Castro: 27:29

Yeah. And then you know and that kind of ties back it. Yeah, and that kind of ties back. It's kind of a chicken and egg thing of when you get a Great Dane it's going to be expensive, even if it doesn't get hit by a car, because it's going to be expensive to feed, it's going to be expensive to care for. And when I have adopters that come to us and they say things like I have to wait until my next paycheck to pay the $85 adoption fee, that is a huge red flag to me because that's not anywhere near to what it's going to cost you annually to care for that pet. And so if you're struggling to pay the adoption fee, again I know, I want, I want, I want, but maybe now is not the time for you to have a pet, or maybe you need a different kind of pet that has a more manageable maintenance cost, for lack of a better term.

Bev Brooks: 28:16

Yeah.

Amy Castro: 28:18

You know. Another thing I would say too about the whole affording the pet care and you know, like you said, most vets are willing to work with you, etc. Etc. Keeping in mind too, because I've run into this a couple times in the past couple of weeks is that most vets are willing to work with their established clients and people who have paid their bills on time in the past and people who have not no-showed for appointments and things like that.

Amy Castro: 28:44

So if you're one of those people because we had a couple of people this week who we turned down for adoptions for new pets, because they don't routinely take their animal to a vet and the last vet visit was, you know, to the vet to put their animal to sleep because something, you know, it just wasn't acting right and it's like, well, whatever it was, it could have been something that was lingering there for a long time and had you gone to your vet routinely, maybe you would have discovered that sooner, instead of putting your animal down and maybe not. Things do creep up. I understand that. But when you've got two cats as an example, one that I turned down this week, two cats that hadn't been to the vet except one when it went to be put to sleep, and one when it had a kidney stone and had to have emergency surgery but had not been to a vet for 10 years before that. It's like do I want to adopt a kitten to you Because that kitten's going to need care?

Bev Brooks: 29:36

along the way oh my gosh.

Amy Castro: 29:37

So we get a lot of that Like people think, or people that say, well, it's an indoor cat, it doesn't need to go to the vet. It's like that's just like saying my kids don't need to go to the pediatrician because I take good care of them.

Bev Brooks: 29:48

Yeah.

Amy Castro: 29:49

They still need checkups, yeah, at least periodically, and that's the thing.

Bev Brooks: 29:52

It translates. It's nothing new. You know, you bring your kid for annual physicals. I would imagine the same applies to pets that right now are sitting next to me trying to destroy my writing envelopes.

Amy Castro: 30:13

Yeah, there. You also have to realize whether you have a relationship with them or not, and how good that relationship is can impact how much they're willing to risk giving you a payment plan or waiting until tomorrow to get paid, because the bottom line is a business. They've got to pay their bills, otherwise they're going to go out of business and then you won't have access to any vet.

Bev Brooks: 30:34

I didn't think of it like that. If you're a chronically good customer, they're going to be willing to take that. I never thought of that.

Amy Castro: 30:41

Yeah, make an appointment and keep it, don't just no-show and it's just yeah. That could go on and on right. There Be a good client Interesting and your vet might treat you well. All right, moving along. Okay, now we're getting into the top two. The top two.

Amy Castro: 31:00

So the number two episode of the second season of Starlight Pet Talk was season two, episode 77, fix Five Annoying Dog Behaviors Fast with my friend Ruth Hegarty again. So she ended up twice in the top 10. And one of the reasons we picked the five behaviors that we did is because, well, because they are the top most annoying but several of them are the most chronic and common reasons that people will give up their dogs to rescues and shelters because of some of these behaviors. So we talked about what the issues were and I think Ruth did a really great job of giving some really down-to-earth, easy-to-start-with advice for fixing some of the issues. So the five issues were leash pulling, nuisance, barking that's a huge pet peeve of mine. Recall, like coming back when you call them jumping up on people a huge pet peeve of mine. Recall, like coming back when you call them Jumping up on people another huge pet peeve of mine.

Amy Castro: 31:59

And then destructive chewing, which I've experienced a lot of. You know. Case in point, the Dyson vacuum and my two $1,200 Lazy Boy recliners. So I left a foster dog unattended in the living room for 30 minutes and that dog chewed the arm and the seat just enough to damage them and make them look like shit and then went across the room and did it to the other matching chair. Oh no, so they both are chewed up and they're now worth nothing. I could probably, if they had not been chewed up because they were expensive chairs and they're relatively new I could probably have sold each of those chairs for two $300. But no, right now I'm going to. Yes, I think I could probably have sold each of those chairs for two $300, but no, right now I'm going to. Yes, I think I could. I think I could have cause. I got two, 50 for the sofa.

Bev Brooks: 32:39

Wow.

Amy Castro: 32:40

Yeah, all right. So anyway, that's not the point, bev. The point is that two perfectly good chairs are going to end up in the garbage dump, um, or set on fire in my backyard as a final farewell.

Bev Brooks: 32:56

A Viking send off.

Amy Castro: 32:57

There we go, yeah, so anyway. So anyway, bev, you don't have a dog, so what did you think of that? I don't.

Bev Brooks: 33:05

However, my takeaway from that was all of those things you just described are completely fixable and doable if you are consistent.

Amy Castro: 33:18

Yeah, that's huge.

Bev Brooks: 33:21

I mean, it works for this damn cat who thinks he's a dog. If you're consistent with stuff, you will see a change, but you must be consistent, yeah.

Amy Castro: 33:30

Dogs and children and cats, it's all the same thing consistency. So now remind us Bev, not us remind me, bev. Didn't you get bitten by a dog one time, fairly recently, and was there a recall issue involved? Or did it when you were walking and that guy had the dog at the construction site? And the dog, oh, that's right.

Bev Brooks: 33:52

I forgot about that. So I'm walking in my neighborhood and a guy's working construction on a home and you know as people will do, they'll bring their dogs to the construction site to hang out or whatever and um, this dog came off the site towards me and I don't know what kind of dog I want to say it was a spitz. It was like a, um, long hair, white, fluffy type of thing, and I guess he started to like heard me, you know, he was circling me or whatever, and he nipped my back of my leg. I couldn't believe it. He pulled my sweatpants away from and he kind of nipped me, but the guy was calling and the dog never came, you know.

Bev Brooks: 34:28

And then finally after finally, yeah, finally, after the dog bit my leg PS, it was just a little nip, it's not the point, it hurt, it was like a pinch. And it wasn't until then that the dog finally came. I guess the dog must have heard it in the owner's voice that he really means it this time. That's another thing. You can't just say it, you have to mean it when you say it, and they can tell the difference. They can totally tell the difference. They can totally tell the difference when you know, like when your mom uses your middle name, you just you know, you know that type of thing. Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm like just train your dog better Work with your dog.

Amy Castro: 35:01

Yeah, you should not have your dog off leash if it's not reliably coming back. That's the key thing, right there.

Bev Brooks: 35:08

Not only that, who knows where this guy lives? He's at a construction site. It's not his home, he's in a strange neighborhood. What if that dog took off? He'll never see it again.

Amy Castro: 35:15

It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen.

Bev Brooks: 35:19

I totally forgot about that. Yeah, and I certainly wasn't mad at the dog, I was mad at the guy.

Amy Castro: 35:26

Oh, I'd have been mad at the dog too.

Bev Brooks: 35:28

No, it's not the dog's fault. It's not the dog's fault. It's not the dog's fault. You're right, the dog was just doing the dog thing, he's just reflecting what he knows, which is next to nothing, because the owner wasn't consistent with the dog.

Amy Castro: 35:40

Yeah, neither of you should have been put in that situation.

Bev Brooks: 35:44

Yeah.

Amy Castro: 35:44

Well, I will say one of the things the jumping up jumps out at me now because Sassy, our blind pit bull who we're still trying to find a home for after I don't know a year and a half going on, two years now she used to have a real problem with jumping and she's gotten. But the key is not winding her up when you first come out, come in the house or whatever. But I don't think she's jumped up on me in several months now. So we finally, because yeah she was, yeah she was, and especially because she came with these long disgusting toenails which we've had a heck of a time trying to get those quicks to go back and shorten them up.

Amy Castro: 36:19

It was like she'd jump up and claw you as she slid her way down and leave, you know, long bruises down your leg.

Bev Brooks: 36:26

So not only that, she's. She's kind of tall. When she's up on her back legs it's not like a little tiny, you know, little dog or whatever. So when she jumps up on you, you know it Exactly.

Amy Castro: 36:37

Oh, but she's such a love.

Bev Brooks: 36:38

I can't believe she's not adopted. Well, I can believe she's not adopted out. It's a little bit of a special needs, but she is a sweetie, definite sweetie.

Amy Castro: 36:45

Yep, so anyway.

Bev Brooks: 36:47

You can see pictures of her on Facebook.

Amy Castro: 36:49

That's true. Yeah, we just posted her up again, like please, because her foster is moving and cannot take her with her. But yeah, I think that's definitely. If you're, if anyone's out there dealing with any of those issues, you need to go back and listen to that episode. But the primary thing, like Bev said, is being consistent. Like you can't even even just doing recall in your house, you can't call them and then have them not come to you. Like, doing recall in your house, you can't call them and then have them not come to you.

Bev Brooks: 37:16

Like you can you've got to make sure that it happens, otherwise, you know, two out of three times is not super helpful. Yeah, it doesn't do anything. It doesn't seal the deal you need. You need to be consistent, right, yeah.

Amy Castro: 37:23

All right, moving right along the number one episode and actually it's the same guy who had the number one episode of 2023, I believe, of Season 3.

Bev Brooks: 37:32

No way.

Amy Castro: 37:33

I think I'm pretty sure. I have to go back and look, but I'm pretty sure it was. Yes, it is. You know why? I know that for a fact Because it's the number one episode overall. Huh was Are you Feeding your Pet the Right Food? With Dr Jeff Grognet. So that's our number still our highest downloaded episode. But the number one episode of 2024 only was Season 2, episode 70, pet Vaccination Essentials with Dr Jeff.

Amy Castro: 38:03

So that one I think I love when he comes on because he is a holistic veterinarian. But he came from a very traditional veterinary background. I mean, he's been practicing for years and years and years. So it's not like he doesn't realize this is the way the world used to see veterinary care and he has evolved as a veterinarian into who he is now and has a huge following of people that take his courses and get his newsletter, things like that.

Amy Castro: 38:29

So we talked about vaccines, because there's a lot of controversy these days about whether our pets really need all of the vaccines that they get and whether they need them every single year, like we've kind of always traditionally thought. So we talked about the difference between core and non-core vaccines, the risks related to over-vaccination, which a huge percentage of it is cancer side effects of vaccine, how we can titer test our pets if we wanted to know whether a vaccine was still viable in their system. We talked a little bit about just general holistic veterinary care care. But then the duration of immunity. I think that was super interesting to realize that many of the vaccines, if we give them once, twice, thrice, are pretty much good from there on out, and so we don't need to necessarily be giving them any year.

Amy Castro: 39:18

And you know what I think is interesting too? Why is it miraculously, in the last couple of years we have quote unquote three-year vaccines like rabies as an example. As long as you do it every three years by the deadline, it's because it's the same vaccine, people. It's not any different, it's not stronger than the one-year vaccine. It's because they realize you don't need it. That often, probably, three years is probably too frequent as far as I'm concerned, but anyway. So what did you think about that? I know we had some big discussions because we were talking about it before, because he went to the vet the last time.

Bev Brooks: 39:50

That's true, and prior to me actually going to the vet to get his vaccinations, research had come out saying there was no difference in the cancer what do you call the cancer at the site of the vaccination Right? There's a term for it. Apparently, there's no statistical difference between the one and the three-year Because it's the same vaccine Bottom line is do your research.

Bev Brooks: 40:18

Like reading your labels, do your research. And I like the fact that he kept saying ask questions. Like when you go to the doctors just say you get scary news, you have all sorts of questions for the doctor, write them down. When you're in that office and you see that white coat your mind just goes blank. So write those things down and don't dismiss a question like oh, it's not important right now Cause he must be busy Ask the questions. Just keep asking.

Amy Castro: 40:43

Yeah, so a funny behind the scenes during that recording. Yeah, so a funny behind the scenes during that recording. So we had scheduled, obviously, a recording date and he's a busy guy so getting on his calendar gets a little dicey sometimes. But we got it scheduled and so we're just chit-chatting a little bit before we get started, just to kind of warm things up or whatever, and he tells me he's not at home, he's at his I don't know if it was a cabin, but like sound like a vacation home in the woods in Canada, and so like it was just a lot of audio issues. There was the microphone issue and then I've got really sensitive ears anyway. But I hear this like humming, buzzing in the background. I'm like, is there a fan or something going? And he's like, oh, that's the heater that had kicked on. So he had to shut the heat off and it's like, okay, now it was back to being quiet.

Amy Castro: 41:34

We start talking again and then all of a sudden I hear like, kind of faintly in the background, and I'm like, okay, and it went on. And then it kind of stopped and then it started again and it wasn't summer like, and he was mowing the lawn and I was like is somebody? Is somebody like sawing something outside your house? And he's like, oh yeah, we've got a company here cutting down a bunch of trees around the property. I'm like, is this really the best day for us to be doing this? Like you gotta be kidding me. So the editing of that episode was a nightmare. I mean, we had to literally split our audios and then I had to erase everything between the words that he actually spoke and then cut certain things out because it got rammed over. But still we managed to cobble together.

Bev Brooks: 42:24

I'll tell you what you must do a great job editing, because I didn't pick up on anything like that at all. And then sometimes, when you do complain about stuff, I'm like I don't think it's as big of a deal, you just want it, you want it to be perfect, I get it. You want to polish everything up and everything, but I couldn't tell all the editing you're talking about. That's great. That was a yeah that's a lot of work.

Amy Castro: 42:43

Yeah, I'm not going to put that much work in anymore people. Muddy pause is going to be muddy, it's going to be muddy. I mean I'm not going to really allow crappy audio, but I'm going to try my best and it's going to start with this episode to not over-edit, like just leave it out how it naturally occurred and not try to make it seem too polished, because I want you to feel like you're part of the conversation.

Bev Brooks: 43:07

Yeah, buddy.

Amy Castro: 43:08

And conversations kind of ramble sometimes or whatnot. So anyway, yeah, I think we got a good second year, a lot of growth in our download numbers, so that's super exciting, that's awesome.

Amy Castro: 43:19

Yeah, we're reaching more people, getting good feedback from people and so, yeah, it was good. And I'm always surprised too. I think when I reach out to people, it's like that person's not going to be on my show, they're this or they're that, or they're famous or they're that work for this big organization or whatever it is, and people want to get the word out about what their area of expertise is or their product or whatever it might be right, right can I can I mention two shout outs for my top favorite?

Bev Brooks: 43:46

Sure, yeah no that's what I wanted to get to next.

Bev Brooks: 43:50

As much as I love those, the ones that were near and dear to my heart were two about the military. One of them was Dogs on Deployment with Alicia Sieber, I believe her name is. I thought that was so interesting. So while a service member is deployed, it's sometimes ridiculously expensive to bring the pet with them. So you could actually foster their pet while they're away and take care of it while they're away until they come back. I mean, yes, there's pitfalls that come and go along the way Like they might not come back, they might come back a lot later than expected, or whatever the case may be. I thought that was just genius, and to be able to foster for the military is awesome. I think that's just very creative and very amazing. Love that one.

Amy Castro: 44:35

Yeah, that was a really good one and you know, as a former military member, I like to support, you know, when military-related organizations. We've had a couple that were military-related, like you said. I'm sure you're going to get to the other one, but I do want to say so, elisa Sieber.

Amy Castro: 44:51

She was a Marine pilot and started this organization because she struggled herself in trying to figure out, when she was going to be deployed, what was going to happen to her pets. And she got lucky and had family members. But I don't think I realized how many military members had to give up their pets because of deployments, because they didn't have somebody to care for them. Or, my God, we pay our military people the like the crappiest wages for the amount of hours that they work and what they sacrifice.

Amy Castro: 45:23

And so you know ain't. Nobody can be gone for six months and pay $50 a day to board their dog. That's crazy. Even a colonel couldn't do that.

Bev Brooks: 45:30

Unless you have military in your family, that's something you just don't even give a second thought to. So when that came up, I was just flabbergasted by the whole thing. The other one I wanted to talk about was Mission Canine Rescue with Kristen Moorer. These are like bomb dogs.

Bev Brooks: 45:49

Yeah, bomb dogs yeah bomb dogs, protection dogs, basically working dogs of various working dogs that want to get reunited with the handler. I was flabbergasted at the money that it takes to do that. Why is it so expensive? Um, and this she, when kristin was talking, she the stuff that she'll crawl over broken glass to help you out. I was like, oh my god. So to be to be able to reunite those handlers with those dogs that saved their lives or, you know, protected so many soldiers, is just again, if you don't have a military person in your life, who knew, who knew, I thought they hop on the plane with them, on the transport plane. Oh no, oh no, it's a lot more complicated. Had no idea.

Amy Castro: 46:24

Well, they're over in some foreign country and they're no longer of use and the handler gets sent home and the dog gets euthanized or just, you know, abandoned in some form or fashion. Yeah, and so I think her and you know, if you think about, like you said, a bomb dog or just a security dog, like you relied on that dog and the dog relied on you to keep you alive and others alive, and you've had this connection for, however, however long it is, and now you're going to be separated, knowing full well that that animal is not going to come to a good end. Like I can't even imagine how that would feel. And you have no choice. Like they have no choice. They can't even, for the most part, they can't even at their own expense. Just be like, okay, I'll pay, or my dad will pay to bring the dog back. It's like it belongs to that company or that organization.

Bev Brooks: 47:15

That was again. I was just blown away, no idea that this was going on, no clue, yeah. And everybody loves scrolling through reels on Instagram with the dogs getting reunited with deployed soldiers and stuff like that when they come at home. You can't help but just fall in love with that, that reaction. Or when the dog when the dog at first is really, really hesitant and then he kind of figures it out that that's his owner, Like that's amazing. That's some good stuff right there.

Amy Castro: 47:41

Yeah, the nose has to kick in. It's like the nose has to kick in yeah, yeah. Oh, they just break my heart every time I see those yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Bev Brooks: 47:50

You know I don't have a favorite. I don't mean to ask you.

Amy Castro: 47:52

No, no, I was just. I was just thinking, you know, I will say that, uh, one of my favorites was season two, episode 66 on pet massage. That particular episode, the guest was a pet masseuse, a certified canine massage therapist, blanca Rodriguez. I think her passion and her compassion for animals just really came through. I mean, it was just like it felt like a very, you know, personal and, I guess, intense conversation and just to talk to somebody who believed so much in what they were doing and the power of what they were doing, the stories that she talked about working with, you know, shelter animals and the impact of that touch. I mean we all, you know, we all know the impact of of touch and how, how, what a positive impact it has on human and animals and, um, I just think her, her passion for what she did and her caring for animals just really kind of touched my heart with that episode.

Amy Castro: 48:49

So that was one of my favorites. But I don't know. I feel like almost all of them are favorites because they're all pretty much handpicked based on either a personal interest, a need or both along the way. So that's definitely a good one. Okay, bev. So to wrap things up and wrap up this episode, what are your thoughts, moving forward, about Muddy Paws? You've had some time to digest the fact that Muddy Paws is here. It's going to be a little bit more like this conversation, a little more laid back.

Amy Castro: 49:24

Yeah, what do you think is going to happen for us in 25?

Bev Brooks: 49:27

I don't know. After all the episodes that you've done, after everything that I've learned in only two seasons, I can't even imagine next year. What are you going to come up with? Like, I think it's going to be great.

Amy Castro: 49:40

I've already got all kinds of things in the works.

Bev Brooks: 49:43

I really don't know how you do it. There's always something new to learn. And I go back to the military thing. I not only wasn't concerned about it, I had no idea it existed. So there's things out there like pet nutrition and vaccinations and things like that. I didn't give it a second thought and now I have a lot to think about. So I'm looking forward to the next hundred episodes, yeah.

Amy Castro: 50:06

Yeah, I kind of feel like you know number one when it comes to organizations like Mission, canine Rescue and Dogs on Deployment. You know there's a lot of organizations out there that you know they're not necessarily putting out national television commercials so that you see them on TV.

Amy Castro: 50:22

There's a lot of people doing a lot of good work for animals around this country and around the world, and so you know discovering some of those, whether it's them reaching out to me. So if you've got an organization like that, reach out and let us know, or you know us doing our homework on our end to find organizations that we want to highlight and draw some more attention to. I mean that's, I think that is an untapped, probably never-ending source of episodes. And then I think you know our evolution for the pet care. I mean look how much you and I have evolved, how pet care was when we were kids.

Amy Castro: 51:02

And you know, and the things that were okay to do back then and how we've evolved from there, and then everything we've learned from hearing and participating in these podcast episodes over the last two years. And the field of animal care, you know, is a multi-billion dollar industry the pet industry and so I think there's all kinds of new innovations and changes and things that we're going to see next year and beyond. So I don't think we're going to run out of things to talk.

Bev Brooks: 51:33

I hope not, cause I wish you all the success in the world. You're the best. Thank you.

Amy Castro: 51:39

And you're my best co-host and sometimes co-host, yeah, and so you know, definitely for those of you listening just to final thoughts here if there is something that you want to learn about some organization, that you come across a product, something your vet tells you that you hadn't heard before, let us know about it because we will dig into it and we'll do an episode on it if we feel like it is of interest to the rest of our audience as well. So we look to you to help guide the future of Muddy Paws and Hairballs and, on that note, anything you want to say. So we look to you to help guide the future of muddy paws and hairballs and, on that note, anything you want to say, yeah, keep us posted on the poop and the pee in the dining room.

Amy Castro: 52:16

Oh yeah, it's a constant, it's a constant, let us know who the culprit is.

Bev Brooks: 52:22

I know, I think I'm just going to set up cameras.

Amy Castro: 52:24

That's probably the best way to do it. I have one charging.

Bev Brooks: 52:26

There you go, I can help.

Amy Castro: 52:28

Anyway, so on that note of pee and poop and puke.

Bev Brooks: 52:34

We want to say Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, all the best holidays and the new year.

Amy Castro: 52:39

Yes, and have a wonderful new year, and we will be back with a new season of Muddy Paws and Hairballs in 2025. Thanks for listening to Muddy Paws and Hairballs in 2025. Thanks for listening to Muddy Paws and Hairballs. Be sure to visit our website at muddypawsandhairballscom for more resources and be sure to follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app so you'll never miss a show. And hey, if you like this show, text someone right now and say I've got a podcast recommendation. You need to check the show out and tell them to listen and let you know what they think. Don't forget to tune in next week and every week for a brand new episode. And if you don't do anything else this week, give your pets a big hug from us.