Season 2 is here, and we’re kicking things off with Dr. Serge Chalhoub: internal medicine specialist, professor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, co-founder of the Calgary Veterinary POCUS Academy and, apparently, Prince of the Nephrons.

Serge’s path through vet med wasn’t exactly linear. After vet school, he thought he’d become a general practice owner. A near-fainting incident during a dog spay, a detour through emergency medicine and a habit of calling ER clients a week later to see how their pets were doing eventually pointed him toward internal medicine, and a career built around teaching.

We get into why point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become such a valuable tool in veterinary medicine, why Serge believes RVTs and DVMs alike can learn to use it, and how it could change the way we triage and care for patients.

We also talk kidneys (obviously), the ethics of feline kidney transplants, raw diets, AI and innovation in veterinary practice, burnout, boundaries, staffing shortages and what Serge thinks needs to change as the profession moves forward.

And near the end, Serge shares something he hopes every veterinary student learns: think critically, challenge your assumptions, and stop being so afraid to fail.

Plus: kidney dad jokes, techno, questionable dancing and the official crowning of the King of the Nephrons.

Welcome back to Don't Call Me Catty.

🎙️ In this episode:
• Finding the right career path when your first plan doesn’t fit
• Why Serge chose internal medicine and teaching
• What POCUS can actually do in everyday veterinary practice
• How RVTs can use ultrasound in triage
• Kidneys, nephrology and feline kidney transplantation
• AI, innovation and reducing workload in vet med
• Burnout, boundaries and the changing veterinary workforce
• Why veterinary professionals need permission to make mistakes

About Dr. Serge Chalhoub

Dr. Chalhoub graduated from the DVM program at the Faculté de médecine vétérinaire (FMV) of the Université de Montréal in 2004. Serge followed this with a one-year rotating small animal clinical internship at the same institution. After working for two years as a general practitioner and emergency veterinarian in Montreal, Serge pursued a residency in small animal internal medicine at the Animal Medical Center (AMC) in New York City. Once his residency completed in 2009 he stayed on at the AMC as their first renal/hemodialysis fellow and then as a staff doctor.

Dr. Chalhoub has been a faculty member at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) since 2012 and currently holds the rank of Professor (Teaching). He was the recipient of the 2021 and 2013 Canadian Veterinary Medical Association’s Teacher of the Year Award, the 2015 University of Calgary Team Teacher of the Year Award, the 2017 Carl J. Norden Distinguished Teacher Award, and is a 2024 3M National Teaching Fellowship recipient recognizing Canada’s outstanding teachers. Serge is the coordinator of a community outreach-service learning program (UCVM-CUPS Pet Health Clinic) for disadvantaged Calgarians. He has authored and co-authored numerous scientific articles and book chapters on veterinary point of care ultrasound, renal and urinary medicine, and lectures around the world on these topics. He was a member of the National Issues Committee (NIC) of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) (2016-2024) and also the President of Alberta Veterinary Medical Association (ABVMA) from 2024-2025.

Get in Touch

Email: [email protected]

Calgary POCUS Academy

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What happens when two veterinary industry leaders put themselves in the hot seat with actual hot sauce? 🌶️

In this special episode of Don’t Call Me Catty, hosts Leilani Saad and Jillian Carr take on a hot wings challenge while answering the questions they usually ask their guests.

As entrepreneurs and passionate advocates for the veterinary community, Leilani and Jillian open up about the conversations happening behind the scenes in vet med. They talk about burnout, leadership, client relationships, money, business ownership, and what it really takes to create positive change in the industry.

Between increasingly spicy wings, plenty of laughs, and a few moments of regret, they share the personal stories and experiences that shaped their careers, their companies, and the way they think about supporting the people who care for animals.

Whether you’re a veterinarian, RVT, practice owner, student, pet owner, or simply curious about the humans behind veterinary medicine, this episode is for you.

Hot wings. Hot takes. Real conversations.

Plus, get a sneak peek at what’s ahead for Season 2 and find out where Don’t Call Me Catty will be recording in 2026. 🔥

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What if veterinary care didn’t stop at the clinic door?

In this episode of Don’t Call Me Catty, we’re joined by Ellyse Bacelic-Grgic (RVT & Founder) and Jen Gibson of Felix and Fido, a platform enabling Registered Veterinary Technologists to provide in-home support following veterinary visits.

Built from a personal experience with a critically ill pet, Felix and Fido addresses a common gap in care: the transition from clinic to home. 

Their model supports:

•  Client compliance with treatment plans 
•  Better continuity of care 
•  Reduced stress for pets recovering at home 
•  New, flexible career paths for RVTs 

Importantly, this work complements—not replaces—veterinary oversight.
It’s about extending care, improving outcomes, and supporting both pet owners and veterinary teams.

A must-listen for anyone interested in the future of veterinary medicine, patient care, and the evolving role of RVTs.

About Ellyse

Ellyse Bacelic-Grgic is a Registered Veterinary Technician with 18 years of experience and the founder of Felix and Fido, an at-home nursing care company that connects pet owners with credentialed RVTs for prescribed in-home support. Based in Vancouver, Ellyse has a deep love for animals and a genuine passion for veterinary medicine. She’s dedicated to fear-free, low-stress care and to helping pet families feel confident managing treatment at home. She created Felix and Fido to build a company rooted in flexibility, fairness, and real career growth for veterinary professionals.

About Jen

Jen Gibson is the Administrative Director and business partner at Felix and Fido, where she leads human resources, team support, and day-to-day operations for the company’s growing network of credentialed RVTs providing prescribed in-home nursing care. With a strong focus on continuing education and sustainable team development, Jen helps build the systems and culture that allow veterinary professionals to thrive—while ensuring pet families receive consistent, compassionate support at home.  

Inspired by Ellyse Bacelic-Grgic’s contagious enthusiasm for making the veterinary world a better place, Jen is proud to be on the journey of building and growing Felix and Fido alongside her. A married mother of two, she loves spending her free time outdoors with her family, camping and hiking wherever they can.

Visit Felix and Fido

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What actually makes a veterinary hospital work? It's not all about medicine. 

In this episode of Don’t Call Me Catty, we sit down with Daniella Cox, Hospital Manager at Boreal Veterinary Centre, to talk about what really drives a successful, high-performing clinic, and why leadership, communication, and culture matter more than most people think.

Daniella shares her journey from ER tech assistant to managing a 130+ person team, and what it takes to build an environment where people actually want to come to work.

We get into:

•  Why not everyone should be a manager (and why that’s okay) 
•  The hardest part of stepping into leadership 
•  How strong communication can make or break a team 
•  What clinics get wrong about culture and how to fix it 
•  How great hospitals retain staff (and support them through burnout) 

If you’ve ever wondered why some clinics thrive while others struggle… this conversation is for you.

About Daniella: 

Daniella has spent over a decade in emergency and specialty veterinary medicine, building her career from the ground up through roles in veterinary support, client care, and referral coordination before stepping into leadership. Alongside her career, she completed a Bachelor of Commerce in Human Resource and Business Management at MacEwan University. A reflection of her genuine passion for the people side of any organization.

HR, for Daniella, is about more than process. It’s about communication, connection, and helping people do their best work. She is driven by building collaborative cultures where teams feel supported, heard, and set up to thrive, even in the most demanding environments.

Get in Touch: 

https://www.borealvet.com/

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Jillian sits down with Dr. Greg Andrews: equine veterinarian, industry leader, and founding force behind Mosaic Veterinary Partners, for a candid conversation on what it really takes to build a lasting career in veterinary medicine.

With over 37 years in practice, Dr. Andrews shares stories from the early days of equine medicine—working out of a tin shack, relying on hands and intuition before advanced diagnostics—and how those experiences shaped his approach to leadership, mentorship, and business. 

But this episode goes far beyond clinical practice.

We dive into:

•  Why mentorship matters (and what happens when you don’t have it) 
•  The biggest financial mistakes veterinarians make and how to avoid them 
•  Why “buy stuff” might be the most underrated advice in vet med 
•  The power of equity, real estate, and thinking beyond your paycheck 
•  Why you should never try to be the cheapest vet in the room 
•  How communication is often the hardest (and most important) skill to master 

Dr. Andrews also shares hard-earned lessons on truth-telling with clients, building confidence early in your career, and creating a life that balances both intellectual and financial growth.

Whether you’re a student, associate, or practice owner, this episode is packed with practical insights and a few bold opinions that might just change how you think about your career.

About Dr. Greg Andrews

Dr. Greg Andrews is an Equine Veterinarian who has practiced in the Calgary area for 37 years and previously held the position of CEO at Canada’s largest equine practice, Moore Equine Veterinary Centre. In 2016, Dr. Andrews and a group of like-minded veterinarians founded Mosaic Veterinary Partners which he led as CEO until late 2022. Dr. Andrews is now involved with the Mosaic team as Executive Chairman and is proud to be ICD.D certified by the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Throughout his career, Dr. Andrews has been the President of the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association, and Western Canadian Association of Equine Practitioners, and has been involved with the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and Equine Canada. He has served on the advisory boards of the University of Calgary’s School of Veterinary Medicine and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Andrews both initiated and chaired Business Infusions Ltd., a leading equine software provider, and served as Board Chairman of CNAD Ltd., a private bioinformatics/genomics company based out of Calgary and Austria. In his spare time, Dr. Andrews loves nothing more than letting nature challenge his body on his bike or skis, and is equally as passionate about challenging his mind through his board and business engagements.

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Leilani and Jillian sit down at the 2025 CanWest Veterinary Conference to chat with the incredibly inspiring Dr. Heather Murphy, a Calgary-based veterinarian from Glamorgan Animal Clinic.

Dr. Murphy, a 2016 UCVM grad, shares her unconventional and deeply moving 10-year journey through veterinary medicine. At just 23 years old, during her first year of vet school, Heather was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. She opens up about the reality of undergoing surgery and chemo, and even heading straight to class after radiation treatments. Unbelievably, just a few years into her clinical career and three months into her first maternity leave, Heather had to navigate a second, entirely different cancer diagnosis. 

Heather is the definition of perseverance. In this episode, she discusses how staying task-oriented and focusing on future goals helped her push through when living in the moment was simply too hard. 

In this episode, we also cover:

• Early Career Realities: The steep learning curve of transitioning from a fast-paced rotating internship to locuming on your own,
• Clinical Highs & Lows: Why she absolutely loves a good ophthalmology case (and her fancy Tonovet), and why tricky diabetic cases are the ones that drive her up the wall,
• The Midnight Worries: The complex, hard-to-pin-down cases that keep her up at night, and how your subconscious mind never really clocks out,
• The Future of Vet Med: Heather’s hopes for making veterinary care more financially practical for pet owners, so practitioners can just focus on what’s best for their patients,
• Advice for the Next Generation: Why new DVMs and RVTs need to stop beating themselves up, remember their humanity, and prioritize taking care of themselves.

Whether you’re a new grad trying to find your footing, an exhausted associate, or a veterinary professional juggling parenthood and practice, Heather’s story of grit, survival, and a healthy dose of stubbornness is exactly what you need to hear today.

About Dr. Heather: 

Born and raised in Calgary, she is a dedicated veterinarian who graduated from the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) in 2016. She completed her internship at the CARE Center from 2016 to 2017 and now practices in Calgary, where she continues to provide compassionate care to her patients.

She lives in Calgary with her husband and their two children, along with their two cats, Binx and Hobbes. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her kids, making the most of everything the area has to offer.

Get In Touch:

If you'd like to get in touch with Dr. Murphy for potential mentorship opportunities or other inquiries, please email [email protected] and we will connect you.

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This week, we’re talking to Dr. Jodi Viste, and asking her how the heck she has 150 friends. She is a rural mixed-animal vet, mother, ABVMA council member, and a passionate community member. We’re diving into the "extraordinary ordinary" life of a small-town vet, including:

• The realities of the veterinary shortage, 
• The dark humour we use to survive the hardest parts of the job, and 
• Why "burnout is the curse of the strong." 

We also pull back the curtain on her 2021 sale to VCA, the guilt of the transition, and how she’s still a fixture in her community four years later. 

About Dr. Jodi

Jodi was a farm girl raised in the city, and it was on the family farm that she developed her love for cattle.  This blossomed into a love of mixed animal practice.  Jodi built her practice in Strathmore, where she has been for the past 23 years.  

Jodi is passionate about the role of the veterinarian in the community and finding the “fun” in practice every day. She loves working in a team, fostering community relationships and mentoring our future generation of veterinarians. Above all else, Jodi is blessed to have an amazing and supportive family with her husband Russell and their two kids, Jack and Raelyn (all die-hard flames fans!). Jodi’s dream is to see all veterinarians practice without fear and anxiety and to embrace just how amazing we all are!  

Connect

https://www.animalcarecentre.ca/

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We sat down with Liz Blake, Sr. Veterinary Sales Representative at Pets Plus Us, for a conversation that starts light but quickly gets real.

From Halloween costumes to $10,000 emergencies and life-changing decisions, this episode dives into the reality of pet insurance in vet med.

Liz shares her stories from over 25 years in clinic and industry including the moment that changed everything: a six-month-old puppy, two broken legs, and a bill that altered the course of her life.

We explore:

- Why only ~2.8% of pets in Canada are insured and why that’s a problem
- The emotional and financial impact of “economic euthanasia”
- How insurance changes decision-making for both pet owners and veterinary teams
- Common misconceptions (and why “just saving monthly” often fails)
- What clinics and RVTs can do to better educate clients
- The role of insurance in enabling gold-standard care and reducing moral stress

This episode isn’t about selling insurance. It’s about understanding the gap between the care we want to provide and what’s financially possible, and how we start to close it.

About Liz:

"My passion for animals has been a lifelong journey, influenced by my animal-loving parents who encouraged my interest in caring for a diverse array of pets throughout my upbringing.

My professional path in animal care began during high school when I secured a position at a pet store with a zoo license. This role provided me with invaluable experience working with a range of unique species, including primates, big cats, and exotic animals. Upon graduating high school, I embarked on my first role in a veterinary practice and simultaneously initiated a wildlife rescue operation from my parents' home as well as a pet sitting service for reptiles, birds, and pocket pets.

I have dedicated my personal life and career to animal welfare. I’ve worked in a variety of roles in veterinary practices for over 26 years where I specialized in exotics and wildlife. I have been an advocate for pet health insurance after experiencing firsthand how it can help in life-or-death situations when large veterinary bills can affect pet owners’ decisions.

I am deeply committed to education, believing that knowledge is crucial for the conservation and well-being of all species. In addition to my professional endeavours, I actively volunteer as a wildlife educator, hand-raise neonatal kittens and foster a variety of species of animals in my home. I am on the BOD for Kali's Wish Foundation as well as the Veterinary Office Assistant Program at Bow Valley College. My personal passion is volunteering to help people with their pets through end-of-life care & decisions.

I am honoured to be part of the Pets Plus Us team as a Sr. Veterinary Sales Representative for the past 12 years and am dedicated to continuing my work in animal welfare and education.

I am very excited to be on 'Don’t Call Me Catty' Podcast!! Leilani & Jillian are women I highly respect and look up to in an industry I have dedicated my life to. I am so incredibly proud of their accomplishments."

Connect with Liz: 
[email protected]

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This episode is sponsored by Solvet Canada: https://solvet.ca/

We sit down with the one and only Shannon Gervais, RVT, at CanWest in Banff for a conversation about leadership, entrepreneurship, networking, and the future of veterinary medicine.

Shannon shares her journey from RVT to a career that spans clinical practice, pharmaceutical sales, leadership, consulting, and founding multiple ventures in the veterinary space. We talk about what it really takes to grow beyond the traditional RVT role, why networking matters more than ever, and how the profession can better support RVTs who are ready to spread their wings.

We also dive into Shannon’s vision for Nova Vet, a tech-forward, client-centered practice model designed to elevate RVTs, improve team culture, and create a better experience for both pets and the people who care for them. Along the way, this episode touches on mentorship, authenticity, customer service, confidence, communication, and the power of finding the right people.

This is a great listen for RVTs, aspiring leaders, and anyone in vet med who has ever wondered what else might be possible.

About Shannon

Shannon Gervais, RVT is a veterinary industry trailblazer, entrepreneur, and innovator with over 25 years of experience in companion animal medicine. She currently serves as the National Companion Animal Business Unit Director at Solvet, where she leads the national strategy for the company’s companion animal division, focusing on veterinary pharmaceuticals, product development, and strategic partnerships across Canada. 

Shannon is also the Founder and Co-Owner of Nova Vet, a modern veterinary hospital in Calgary, Alberta, designed to deliver curated veterinary care through innovation, technology, and strong collaboration between Registered Veterinary Technologists and veterinarians. 

Originally trained as an RVT, Shannon has built a career bridging clinical practice, business strategy, and industry partnerships. She is passionate about advancing the veterinary profession through thoughtful innovation, operational excellence, and initiatives that support both veterinary teams and the pets they care for.

Connect with Shannon

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Nova Vet

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This episode is sponsored by Solvet Canada. https://solvet.ca/

Recorded live at CanWest 2025 in Banff, we sat down with Kamryn Shaughnessy-Gervais: Inside Sales Rep at AniCell Biotech, animal-health industry “legacy kid,” and competitive barrel racer with serious grit.

Kamryn grew up in veterinary medicine (trade shows, clinics, and all), then moved from Canada to Texas to compete and study at Texas Tech University, completing a BSc in Animal Science and a Master’s in Veterinary Science. She opens up about what it felt like to be the only Canadian on the rodeo team (yes, they literally called her “Canada”), crossing the border during COVID, and why mentorship — from family to industry leaders — was everything when she wasn’t sure she belonged.

We also talk about her path through Merck Animal Health (strategic accounts on the cattle side) and how that experience led her to AniCell Biotech, where she’s helping bring regenerative solutions into the animal health space. Kamryn explains regenerative technology in plain language, including how amnion-based products can support soft tissue repair and function.

In this episode:

- Growing up in vet med & trade show culture

- Rodeo life, barrel racing, and the “heart horse” Switch

- Moving to Texas as a Canadian (and the border paperwork reality)

- Merck Animal Health internship on the cattle side

- What AniCell Biotech does (regenerative tech, explained simply)

- Grit, resilience, mentors, and asking for help

If you’re early in your career, this episode is a great reminder that doubt doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. It means you care. Feeling unsure is normal. The key is to keep going, keep learning, and keep asking for help when you need it. Because you can go a long way in this industry when you don’t quit on yourself.

Learn More/Contact Kamryn:

https://anicellbiotech.com/

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