In this episode, I sit down with Lisa and Scot, the powerhouse husband and wife duo behind Woof Creek Pet Wellness, to explore how clean, sustainable nutrition can support the health of our pets and the planet.

Lisa and Scot share their heartfelt story of how their dog, Lily Lou, inspired a complete life pivot—from running an Ayurvedic restaurant to formulating chef-style superfood blends and eco-conscious supplements for pets. 

We talk about how to read pet food labels like a pro, why the difference between active and inactive ingredients matters more than most pet parents realize, and how thoughtful choices—like using algal oil instead of fish oil—can protect both your dog’s health and our oceans.

If you’ve ever wondered if your pet’s favorite brand is good for the planet, this episode will forever change how you shop for your pet 🌍✨

KEY INSIGHTS:

✨ How reading the entire label (not just the front) can help you spot misleading marketing and avoid hidden toxins.

✨ Why understanding the difference between active and inactive ingredients can protect your pet from unnecessary fillers and irritants.

✨ How clean, bioavailable nutrition—free from glycerin, binders, and vague “meat meals”—can transform your pet’s health.

✨ Why freshness and packaging matter more than you think. 

✨ How plant-based omega sources like algal oil offer all the benefits of fish oil—without the mercury, allergens, or impact on ocean ecosystems.

✨ Why Woof Creek’s products are created with human-grade ingredients, eco-conscious packaging, and sustainable sourcing. 

✨ How every small switch you make (from cleaner oils to toxin-free bowls) supports both your pet’s health and a healthier planet. 

✨ And how Lisa and Scott’s journey from restaurateurs to pet wellness pioneers is proof that love, curiosity, and compassion can transform everything.

Special Offer for Listeners 🎁

👉 Use the promo code DRLILY25 for 25% off at

🔗 https://www.woofcreek.com/discount/DRLILY25 through December 31, 2025!

FOLLOW:

Woof Creek Wellness: https://www.woofcreek.com/

Woof Creek Pet Wellness On Instagram: @woofcreekwellness 

Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com

Integrative Pet Wellness Center on Instagram: @integrativepet

Dr. Lily Chen on Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet 

Sign up to our newsletter to get more holistic pet care tips 🐶🐈‍⬛

In this episode, I sit down with author and pet homeopath Jan Allegretti for part two of our conversation where we dive into the spiritual connection we share with our pets. 

Jan shares her heartfelt philosophy that every animal’s life is just as valuable as our own—and how unconditional love, the kind our pets model so effortlessly, is one of the most sacred forces we can experience.

You’ll hear how pets can become our greatest spiritual teachers, why five minutes of stillness can transform your relationship with your animal, and how nature helps us metabolize stress and soften burnout. 

So if you’ve been craving a calm reset, light a candle, curl up with your pet, and press play 💖

KEY INSIGHTS:

✨ Why advocacy is love in action—and how using our voice honors beings who can’t speak for themselves.

✨ How stillness becomes medicine for us and our animals, deepening perception, presence, and connection.

✨ Why perfection is the enemy of the good in feeding and living, and how “balance over time” creates freedom.

✨ How our dogs and cats already model presence, trust, and compassion—and why mirroring them changes us.

✨ Why nature helps metabolize pain and trauma, and how awe can soften the hard edges of busy modern life.

✨ How simple rituals—walking, quiet sitting, mindful play—recalibrate the nervous system for both humans and animals.

✨ Why the love we feel for our animals is a direct experience of the sacred—and how it heals us from the inside out.

✨ How five minutes of daily silence can shift your entire relationship with your pet, your work, and yourself.

✨ Why designing a life and practice that serves the healer first prevents burnout and sustains true service.

✨ How choosing presence over hustle helps us “see the being in front of us” and make kinder, wiser care decisions.

RESOURCES:

Grab Jan Allegretti’s books 👇

The Fresh and Flexible Meal Plan

The Complete Holistic Dog Book

Listen to the Silence: Lessons from Trees and Other Masters 

FOLLOW:

Jan Allegretti: https://janallegretti.com/

Jan Allegretti on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jan.allegretti/

Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com

Integrative Pet Wellness Center on Instagram: @integrativepet

@the.unicorn.vet

@dr.lilychen

Sign up to our newsletter to get more holistic pet care tips 🐶🐈‍⬛

In this episode, I sit down with Jan Allegretti, a pioneer in holistic animal health and the author of The Fresh and Flexible Meal Plan—a book that’s rewriting the rules on pet nutrition.

Jan’s approach is refreshingly simple: stop overcomplicating feeding and start applying the same common-sense principles you use for your own meals—fresh, whole foods, variety, and yes, sharing what you eat with your pets.

We’re diving into why variety is the real insurance policy for nutrition and why it beats a single “complete and balanced” recipe on repeat, as well as how feeding fresh can help transform chronic health issues. 

If you’ve ever looked at a bag of kibble and thought, “There’s got to be a better way,” this episode is for you 💖

KEY INSIGHTS:

✨ Why variety—not a single perfect recipe—is the real foundation of balanced nutrition.

✨ How sharing your meals (just making extra of what you already cook) can make fresh feeding simple, affordable, and sustainable.

✨ Why highly processed foods may be contributing to many chronic issues like itchy skin, allergies, and infections.

✨ The 30–60–10 guideline Jan uses to help pet parents get started with confidence: 30–60% protein, 30–60% carbohydrates, and 10–30% fruits and vegetables.

✨ Jan’s special way of transitioning pets to a fresh food diet that reduces tummy upsets. 

✨ How cooking for your pets often inspires you to eat healthier too (because they make us better humans 💛).

✨ Why convenience and marketing—not science—shaped the commercial pet food industry, and how to reclaim your common sense.

✨ How fresh food feeding can help prevent disease, lower vet bills, and support long-term vitality.

✨ The simple “nutrition boosters” Jan recommends adding like spirulina, nutritional yeast, cooked mushrooms, and fermented foods.

✨ Why this isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress, intuition, and trusting that good food is good food, for you and your pets.

RESOURCES 

Grab Jan Allegretti’s books 👇

The Fresh and Flexible Meal Plan

The Complete Holistic Dog Book

Blogs by Jan Allegretti 👇

Simple Strategies for Really Good Food

Healthy and Fresh for Dogs and Cats: What your animal family really wants for dinner

How to Feed Dogs – Simplified

Holiday Home Cooking for Everyone in the Family

Human foods your dog should avoid👇

Onions, grapes/raisins, chocolate, macadamia nuts, xylitol, chicken bones, corn cobs (the corn cut off is fine), alcohol, caffeine, processed sugar (a bit of honey is okay) 

This list is for informational purposes only, it does not constitute veterinary recommendations. For all pets, we recommend that they work with their veterinarians closely to develop a diet plan.

FOLLOW:

Jan Allegretti: https://janallegretti.com/

Jan Allegretti on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jan.allegretti/

Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com

Integrative Pet Wellness Center on Instagram :  @integrativepet

Dr. Lily Chen on Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet 

Sign up to our newsletter to get more holistic pet care tips 🐶🐈‍⬛

What if healing cancer could start long before it shows up on a scan?

In this episode, I sit down with integrative veterinarian and cancer survivor Dr. Kristi Wilson, DVM to explore how energy medicine and bioresonance therapy are changing what’s possible in cancer care for pets.

After surviving stage 3C breast cancer, Dr. Kristi dedicated her life to finding innovative solutions to challenging cancer cases and helping pets heal by addressing the energetic signatures that often appear before disease ever manifests physically 🤯

If your pet has cancer—or you simply want to understand how healing can happen on a deeper level—this episode will expand what you believe is possible ✨

KEY INSIGHTS:

✨ How Dr. Kristi’s own cancer journey transformed her understanding of medicine and inspired her to integrate bioresonance into veterinary care.

✨ What bioresonance therapy is and how it measures the body’s energetic patterns.

✨ The story of a dog with stage-4 sarcoma whose tumor vanished within six weeks after bioresonance-guided treatment.

✨ Why this integrative, energy-based approach represents the next evolution of veterinary medicine—bridging compassion, science, and frequency.

✨ Why every pet is a one-of-a-kind energetic snowflake—and how healing must be customized for each animal’s body, mind, and energy.

✨ How trauma and emotional stress can manifest as disease in both humans and pets.

✨ And a free tool any pet parent can use right now: a five-minute daily visualization practice.

FOLLOW:

Dr. Kristi Wilson on Instagram: @kristi_wilson_dvm

Dr. Kristi Wilson: https://hopehealingforanimals.com/

Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com

Integrative Pet Wellness Center on Instagram: @integrativepet

Dr. Lily Chen on Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet 

Sign up to our newsletter to get more holistic pet care tips 🐶🐈‍⬛

Dr. Carla Castro is back on the podcast with a heart-forward, grounded take on something that can feel overwhelming: AI and technology in veterinary care. 

Together, we explore how simple tools—like AI-powered note-taking and voice capture—can lighten the mental load of record-keeping so we can show up fully present for our patients and their families.

We unpack the role of telemedicine as a meaningful complement (not a replacement) to hands-on exams, the rise of pet wearables and real-time health tracking, and how “hybrid care” models can ease clinic stress while offering pet parents quicker answers.

If new tech has ever felt scary to you, this episode offers a calm exploration of how it might be able to help your pet or your vet practice.

KEY INSIGHTS:

✨ Why AI is a tool—not a replacement—and how using transcription or scribe support can free vets from endless notes so they can be more present with patients.

✨ How voice-to-text apps can help you capture ideas, notes, and reminders on the go without losing valuable insights.

✨ How telemedicine can complement in-person care by easing clinic pressure, supporting rechecks, and helping pet parents get faster answers.

✨ How hybrid care—combining telehealth, in-clinic visits, and digital documentation—can streamline workflow and reduce decision fatigue.

✨ How pet tech like health-monitoring collars and trackers can empower pet parents with real-time insights while keeping vets in the loop.

✨ Why adaptation is critical in veterinary medicine and how embracing new systems can help clinics thrive.

✨ Why calendar automation tools can reduce stress and decision fatigue by helping you prioritize tasks and protect personal time.

✨ How technology can expand access to veterinary support globally—especially in underserved or bilingual communities.

✨ Why staying curious and open to change will define the next era of compassionate, connected pet care.

RESOURCES:

Interested in AI? Listen to my episode with Ron Sosa on the My Dog Is Better Than Your Dog Podcast 👉 Could AI Be The Secret Tool To Smarter Pet Care 

Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com

FOLLOW:

Dr.Carla Castro: https://www.drcarlacastro.com/

LinkedIn: Dr. Carla Castro

Instagram: @the.carlacastro

Integrative Pet Wellness Center on Instagram: @integrativepet

Dr. Lily Chen on Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet

Sign up to our newsletter to get more holistic pet care tips.

This week, we’re exploring one of the most fascinating and incredibly helpful truths in pet care—our pets and our pet patients often mirror our own energy, stress, and emotions. I’m joined by veterinarian, coach, and human–animal bond advocate Dr. Carla Castro, who shares practical tools that both pet parents and vets can use to calm the nervous system, support their pet’s health, and create a healing environment at home and in the clinic.

Dr. Carla shares a powerful story about a horse who helped her realize just how deeply our energy affects the animals around us, a moment that shaped how she approaches every pet patient.

You’ll also learn how to prepare for vet visits with less anxiety, what to prioritize in short appointments, and how to build a true partnership with your veterinary team. If you’ve ever wondered why your dog or cat seems to pick up on your stress, or how to make vet visits feel calmer and more connected, this episode gives you simple tools to start 💜

KEY INSIGHTS

✨ How pets often mirror their humans—our stressed, worried, or calm energy directly affects theirs.

✨ How simple breathing techniques like box breathing or the physiological sigh can reset your nervous system in minutes.

✨ How practicing the pause and staying curious, not judgmental, helps you uncover the root of emotions.

✨ How emotions are information, not identity—recognizing this helps both humans and pets heal.

✨ How meditation, sound baths, and PEMF therapy are simple tools that activate your body’s natural healing state.

✨ How pet parents play a vital role in veterinary care and how your questions help your vet find the right plan.

✨ How preparing for appointments with clear priorities reduces stress for you, your pet, and your vet team.

✨ How vets can create calmer clinics by centering themselves first and seeing each visit through the pet’s eyes.

✨ And how you already hold medicine within you: your breath, awareness, and presence are where healing begins.

RESOURCES

For Coaching with Dr. Carla: Email her at [email protected]

Dr. Carla Castro: https://www.drcarlacastro.com/

FOLLOW

Dr. Carla Castro on IG: @the.carlacastro

Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com

Integrative Pet Wellness Center on Instagram: @integrativepet

Dr. Lily Chen on Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet

Sign up to our newsletter to get more holistic pet care tips

This week we’re having a conversation that might stretch how you think about pet loss, in the most compassionate way. I’m joined by artist, photographer, and animal chaplain Sophie Gamand, whose shelter work, including the viral project Pit Bull Flower Power, has helped thousands of people see rescue dogs with fresh eyes 🌸

We talk about honoring grief as sacred, practical ways to create ritual and meaning when a beloved animal dies, and how veterinary teams and shelter volunteers can hold space without burning out. This episode offers gentle, practical support for pet parents too, whether you’re helping someone you love through a loss, or you’re grieving your own companion animal.

This episode is designed to help you feel supported, seen, and a little more held while navigating the “disenfranchised grief” that is pet loss 🤍

KEY INSIGHTS:

✨ Why pet loss is often “disenfranchised grief,” and how naming it can help you feel less alone.

✨ How crying can be self-care, and why finding safe people to cry with matters.

✨ How “continued bonds” keep the relationship alive after death, and gentle ways to honor that connection.

✨ Why small rituals (altars, keepsakes, candles) can ground big feelings without needing perfect words.

✨ How everyday creativity—journaling, cooking, walking the old route—can give your love somewhere to go.

✨ Why “holding space” beats fixing, and how to support a grieving friend without minimizing their pain.

✨ How clinics can be grief-aware with simple cues (quiet signals, private exits, chaplain support, 24/7 hotlines).

✨ Why anticipatory grief hits vets and volunteers so hard, and how leaders can model healthy vulnerability.

✨ How meaning-making transforms sorrow into service, from support circles to Sophie’s ceramics as “grief holders.”

✨ Why it’s okay to ask for what you need at euthanasia—music, crystals, keepsakes, time—so goodbye feels true to you.

✨ And how community care (support groups, rituals of remembrance) helps us carry what cannot be fixed.

RESOURCES:

Sign up for Sophie’s newsletter on her website 🐶 👉 https://www.sophiegamand.com/newsletter-signup

Support Sophie’s work with shelter dogs 🐶 👉 https://www.patreon.com/SophieGamand

Purchase your own dog talisman lovingly crafted by Sophie 🐶 👉 https://www.sophiegamand.com/shop

FOLLOW:

Sophie Gamand’s website: https://www.sophiegamand.com/

Sophie Gamand on Instagram: @sophiegamand

Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com

Integrative Pet Wellness Center on Instagram: @integrativepet

Dr. Lily Chen on Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet

Sign up to our newsletter to get more holistic pet care tips

This week we’re having a conversation that might stretch how you think about life with your dog—in the best way. I’m joined by artist, photographer, and animal advocate Sophie Gamand, whose shelter work, including the viral project Pit Bull Flower Power, has helped thousands of people see rescue dogs with fresh eyes.

We talk about how you can uplevel your pet parenting game even more by truly listening to and honoring what your pet is telling you. Together, we explore how collaborative care and gentle desensitization can transform medical handling, the complicated reality of free-living dogs versus those labeled as “strays,” and what Sophie has witnessed inside shelters across the U.S., from breed stereotypes to the powerful socioeconomic forces that push good pets into cages.

If you’ve ever wondered how to love your dog in a way that celebrates who they are, not just who we hope they’ll be, this episode is for you 💜

KEY INSIGHTS:

✨ Why “I love my dog” isn’t always enough, and what a deeper, more respectful bond really looks like.

✨ How to bring consent and choice into everyday moments with your dog.

✨ Why growling is communication, not disobedience, and why you don’t want to train your dog out of it.

✨How collaborative care and gentle handling can change a dog’s medical experience.

✨ Why free-living dogs can teach us about agency, adaptation, and community.

✨ The hidden truths of shelter life and what Sophie discovered after photographing hundreds of dogs across the U.S.

✨ How Sophie’s viral Pit Bull Flower Power project changed the way millions of people see pit bulls forever.

✨ Why large, working breeds struggle in most cities and what that says about our lifestyles.

✨ The emotional cost of volunteering in shelters and what it truly means to give an animal their dignity back.

✨ Why adoption is just one way to help and how each of us have a unique skill that can help a shelter.

✨ And we explore what it truly means to honor who our pets are, not just who we want them to be.

RESOURCES:

Sign up for Sophie’s newsletter on her website (just scroll to the bottom of the page) 🐶 👉 https://www.sophiegamand.com/newsletter-signup

Support Sophie’s work with shelter dogs 🐶 👉 https://www.patreon.com/SophieGamand

Purchase your own dog talisman lovingly crafted by Sophie 🐶 👉 https://www.sophiegamand.com/shop

FOLLOW:

Sophie Gamand’s website: https://www.sophiegamand.com/

Sophie Gamand on Instagram: @sophiegamand 

Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com

Integrative Pet Wellness Center on Instagram: @integrativepet

Dr. Lily Chen on Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet 

Sign up to our newsletter to get more holistic pet care tips

In this episode, I sit down with my dear friend Jenn Galvin to talk about something we don’t speak about enough in vet med or pet parenting: grief 💛

We share what it looks like behind the scenes for the vet team when a beloved patient passes… how we somehow hold it together between appointments… and what actually helps when the waves come crashing in later. Jenn opens up about what it means to support families through euthanasia — creating calmer spaces and gentle rituals.

We also talk about anticipatory grief and the simple ways pet parents can ask for the goodbye that feels right for them.

If you’re navigating loss (or holding space for someone who is), this conversation is tender, practical, and full of heart. Tune in, you're not alone in this 🕊️

KEY INSIGHTS:

✨ Why grief never really goes away and how it becomes a lasting reminder of love.

✨ How veterinarians and pet parents carry layers of grief that resurface with every loss.

✨ Why guilt often shows up after euthanasia and how to remind yourself you truly did your best.

✨ How to recognize anticipatory grief when you know a pet’s time is near and ways to cope through it.

✨ Why being vulnerable as a leader can strengthen your veterinary team and create deeper trust.

✨ How to support grieving families with rituals, compassion, and permission to take their time.

✨ Why crying isn’t weakness but sacred self-care for both vets and pet parents.

✨ How creating a calm, private space for euthanasia can completely change a client’s experience.

✨ Why it’s important to ask for what you need—whether it’s time, keepsakes, or specific end-of-life rituals.

✨ How loss can inspire new forms of healing, like Dr. Lily’s Kidney Protection Plan in honour of her pet patient Chloe.

✨ And how every goodbye, no matter how painful, deepens our capacity to love, lead, and honor the pets who’ve shaped us.

Resource: Jill Cooper Coaching (end of life / transitional support for people): [email protected]

FOLLOW:

Jenn Galvin’s practice: https://aac.vet/

Jenn Galvin’s practise on IG: @aacvet

Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com

Integrative Pet Wellness Center on Instagram: @integrativepet

Dr. Lily Chen on Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet 

Sign up to our newsletter to get more holistic pet care tips

In this episode, I sit down with my dear friend Jenn Galvin to talk about her spirited chocolate Lab, Fern, and their uphill battle with chronic GI issues since puppyhood. From endless vet visits to a Helicobacter diagnosis treated with rounds of triple-antibiotic therapy, nothing truly made her better. 

So when Jenn asked for my help, we tried something different. We started Fern on microbiome therapy (AKA fecal transplants).

And after 4 weeks of fecal transplants, Fern finally had a normal poop for the first time in years. That one shift sparked a transformation not just for Fern, but for Jenn’s clinic, which now offers microbiome therapy to pets in need 💩✨

If your pet struggles with chronic diarrhea, itchy skin, chronic vomiting, allergies, or any other chronic illness, this episode is filled with hope, practical insights, and a new way forward. 

KEY INSIGHTS:

✨ How one joyful chocolate Lab named Fern went from eight years of chronic diarrhea to normal, healthy stools and what finally made the difference.

✨ Why repeated antibiotics and “band-aid” treatments weren’t enough to fix her gut and what Jenn and I decided to try instead.

✨ What “microbiome therapy” (aka fecal transplants) really looks like in practice and how gentle and safe the process can be.

✨ The moment Fern’s stool finally normalized after week four and what that milestone revealed about the body’s ability to heal.

✨ How Jenn’s clinic began offering microbiome therapy to other pets and the remarkable early outcomes they’re seeing.

✨ Why addressing emotional stress is just as important as treating the gut itself especially for sensitive dogs like Fern.

✨ How flower essences and environmental enrichment (like walks and swim time) can play a role in restoring your pet’s gut health.

✨ Why prevention matters and how supporting the microbiome in puppies and kittens can help avoid chronic issues later.

✨ What to know about donor screening and safety and why “microbiome restorative therapy” is a better name to share with clients.

✨ And how this one story is inspiring more vets to explore a do-no-harm, science-backed path to true gut healing. 

RESOURCES:

Other microbiome and gut health related episodes on the My Dog Is Better Than Your Dog Podcast ✨👇

The Real Reason Your Dog’s Diarrhea Keeps Coming Back And What You Can Do About It w/ Gut Health Expert Dr. Katie Woodley

The Secret World Of Pet Microbes w / Dr. Odette Suter 

Homemade Dog Feeding For Busy Pet Parents On A Budget w/ The Doggy Dish

The Best Food For Your Dog w/ Dr. Hilary Woolfe 

Microbiome, Mushrooms, And The Ancestral Connection w/ Adored Beast Founder Julie Ann Lee 

FOLLOW:

Jenn Galvin’s practice: https://aac.vet/

Jenn Galvin’s practice on IG: @aacvet

Integrative Pet Wellness Center: https://integrativepet.com

Integrative Pet Wellness Center on Instagram:  @integrativepet

Dr. Lily Chen on Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet 

Sign up to our newsletter to get more holistic pet care tips