Unhinged and On Call

From Equine Vet to Meadery and Bees: Dr. Ayla Guild’s Pivot and Boundaries Hosts Dr. Chelsea and vet tech Trish welcome equine veterinarian Dr. Ayla Guild, a longtime friend, who describes pivoting from a psychology major into vet school after a riding-related head injury and completing her training at the University of Pennsylvania/New Bolton. Isla discusses challenges in equine clinical training and practice, including sleep deprivation, perfectionism, anxiety, postpartum depression, and the inefficiency of extensive driving in ambulatory work. She explains how gluten sensitivity led her family to discover mead, begin fermenting raw honey-based mead without heating above hive temperature, and ultimately open The Hive Taproom with distribution, supported by their own honey production and expanding beekeeping efforts. The conversation also covers bee health pressures (nutrition and mites), practical beekeeping realities, work-life balance, boundaries in veterinary medicine, and Ayla's plan to return via equine emergency relief work.

00:00 Show Intro

00:30 Meet Dr Dr. Ayla Guild

02:03 From Psych To Vet

04:55 Vet School Reality Check

07:52 Practice Life And Caseloads

10:56 Burnout And Big Pivot

12:59 Discovering Mead Making

16:07 Beekeeping From Scratch

18:41 Hive Growth And Challenges

20:40 Bee Health And Forage

25:35 How Mead Is Made

26:27 Eco Friendly Mead

27:20 Raw Honey Fermentation

28:10 Flavoring And Style

29:12 Scaling Up Production

30:27 Shipping And Regulations

31:20 Allergies And Ingredients

33:07 Vet Career Boundaries

36:20 Horses And Riding Time

38:29 Work Life Balance Shift

41:22 Mental Health And Guilt

45:32 Social Media And Wrap Up

46:41 Podcast Outro And Call for Guests 

Would You Rather? Vet Med Edition with Dr. Chelsea and Trish Dr. Chelsea (veterinarian) and Trish (registered vet tech) host a chaotic, kid-inspired “Would You Rather?” game mixing veterinary and everyday dilemmas, and suggest adding the segment to future guest interviews while inviting listeners to share their own questions. They debate choices such as anal glands on the face vs being peed on, being trapped with a nervous Great Dane vs a furious chihuahua, cleaning kennels vs answering phones, surgery prep vs front desk work on no sleep, switching jobs vs switching phones, losing a phone vs losing caffeine, search history vs Amazon orders being leaked, cleaning puke vs attending a social school function, stepping on Legos vs sitting in mystery wet spots, losing sight vs losing memories, Hallmark Christmas movies vs horror movies, and never doing laundry vs never grocery shopping. They also discuss boundaries with phones, kids and social media, and close with guest and rating/subscription calls to action.

00:00 Show Intro

00:24 Game Setup

01:39 Gross Vet Dilemma

02:44 Big Dog Or Chihuahua

03:15 Kennels Vs Phones

04:30 No Sleep Choices

05:39 Switch Jobs Or Phones

06:49 Phone Detox Parenting

10:58 Search Vs Amazon Leak

13:01 School Function Survival

13:50 Barn Clothes Social Life

15:08 Trailer Tack Room Repairs

15:58 Legos vs Mystery Wet

16:46 Sight or Memories Debate

17:38 London and Badminton Trip

19:32 Hallmark or Horror Forever

20:24 Laundry vs Grocery Shopping

21:58 Kids Chores and Folding Hacks

24:19 Wrap Up and Guest Call

Vitamin E in Horses: Deficiency Signs, Testing Targets, and Why Liquid Supplementation Matters Dr. Chelsea and vet tech Trish deliver an educational PSA on equine vitamin E, emphasizing that many horses—especially in dry regions like Colorado without lush pasture—are at risk because vitamin E is unstable and largely lost from sun-cured hay. They discuss testing differences (Cornell HPLC targets 300–600 µg/dL; higher targets like 600–800 for symptomatic horses) and suggest annual spring screening with rechecks in 1–2 months. Key conditions linked to deficiency include equine motor neuron disease (often irreversible; only 45% recovery after induced cases), vitamin E–responsive myopathy, and the ENAD/EDM spectrum in young horses with progressive, symmetric ataxia and frequent behavior changes; deficiency may also contribute to penile ataxia/paraphimosis and head shaking. They warn high doses may affect coagulation, advise avoiding injectables, and stress natural d-alpha tocopherol—using liquid (e.g., 5,000 IU/day for 60 days) because powders/pellets can take 8–10 weeks and may not raise levels or CSF vitamin E.

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:29 Why Vitamin E Matters

03:19 Pasture Limits and Deficiency Risk

04:46 Testing Targets and Ranges

06:30 Hand Grazing Reality Check

08:41 Sponsor Break

09:15 Deficiency Signs and Safe Dosing

10:28 Equine Motor Neuron Disease

13:48 VEM and Screening Strategy

17:28 Case Study Paraphimosis Link

19:26 Liquid vs Powder Absorption

22:23 Practical Dosing Workarounds

23:07 Liquid vs Powder Dosing

23:42 Testing Surprises and CSF

24:47 Avoid Injectable Vitamin E

25:17 EDM and Vitamin E Link

27:08 EDM Signs and Differentials

28:42 Young Horses and eNAD

30:30 Lab Ranges and Natural Forms

32:30 New Omega Oil Pump

34:27 Barn Practicalities and Storage

36:20 Common Myths and Hay

38:10 Senior Horses and Headshaking

40:10 Wrap Up and Listener Call

From Journalism to Racetracks: Dr. Ashley Hamilton’s Unfiltered Equine Vet Stories

Hosts Dr. Chelsea and vet tech Trish welcome equine racetrack veterinarian Dr. Ashley Hamilton, an old internship friend, who now works with a large practice across Florida, New York (Saratoga), and Kentucky. Ashley explains she didn’t initially plan on veterinary medicine, starting college in journalism, majoring in Spanish, and nearly deferring vet school to consider law/politics before committing to horses. She describes training at Rood & Riddle and in Northern Virginia, then the major shift to rural South Carolina practice with limited budgets, frequent down-horse calls, and safety concerns during late-night farm visits. Stories include owners pouring Gatorade into a dead horse’s mouth, improvised treatments, a difficult rectal abscess diagnosis, challenging euthanasias (including sheep and cats), and encountering intoxicated clients with an injured yearling. The conversation highlights rural veterinary shortages, economic realities, and emotional toll.

00:00 Show Cold Open

0:24 Meet Dr Ashley Hamilton

01:25 From Journalism to Vet School

04:25 Internships and Early Career Turns

04:59 Rural Practice Reality Check

05:55 Racetrack Medicine Life

06:28 Weird Eye Cases and Consults

08:39 Favorite Cases Lameness and Airway

09:43 South Carolina Farm Call Stories

11:20 Down Horse and Gatorade Shock

14:42 DIY Treatments Gone Wrong

16:28 Rectal Fluids Colic Debate

17:52 Sponsor Break VetCS

18:26 The Rectal Abscess Nightmare

21:07 On Call Safety and Dorm Syringe

23:56 Sketchy Farm Call

24:16 Horse Sling Nightmare

25:29 When Clients Won’t Pay

26:51 Low Fees Rural Reality

28:09 Horses Tied to Trees

28:49 Rural Vet Shortage

29:39 Snakebite No Resources

31:02 Euthanasia Toll

33:11 Fancy Sheep Euthanasia

35:34 Cat Veins and Workarounds

37:41 Mud Hill Midnight Call

41:46 Better Place Now

42:38 Closing Thanks

Spicy Cats, House Calls, and a Flying Feral: Vet Tech Liz Brockhouse on Unpredictable Feline Chaos

Dr. Chelsea and vet tech Trish welcome guest Liz Brockhouse, an Illinois vet tech who moved from equine interests into small animal practice, advanced from receptionist to practice manager, and now works remotely as a special projects manager for a corporation supporting 300+ practices; she encourages vet med professionals to explore varied career paths. Liz shares house-call stories highlighting unpredictable “spicy” cats, including chaotic attempts to restrain two Bengal cats in a massive bathroom, a client asking the clinic to sedate a Bengal stuck atop kitchen cabinets, and a recurring feral cat that repeatedly launches at people and escapes. The conversation also covers the unpredictability of in-home visits, firing a house-call client due to unsafe conditions, a cat with repeated bottle-cap foreign bodies, a St. Bernard with pica vomiting up a large toy, and Liz’s strong aversion to vomit. The episode includes a VetCS sponsor message and a call for guests, reviews, and YouTube subscriptions.

00:00 Show Kickoff

00:29 Meet Liz Brockhouse

01:43 From Horses to Small Animal

03:29 Corporate Projects Career

04:39 Riding Comeback Story

05:58 Florida Adventures Kayaking

06:47 Unicorn Clinic Growth

09:12 Spicy Bengals House Call

13:11 Sedate the Cat Request

15:05 House Calls Gone Wrong

18:37 Curtain Climbing Cat Chaos

24:42 Flying Cat Escape

25:57 Sponsor Vetcs Break

26:55 Cat Bites Nail Trims

27:44 Bottle Cap Foreign Bodies

30:40 Mobile Vet Repeat Visits

32:31 Clinic Chaos Loose Cats

34:12 Vomit Nemesis Stories

35:55 French Toast Toy Pica

42:10 Wrap Up And Farewell

43:02 Podcast Guest Callout

Horse Rehab, Cross-Country Chaos, and Florida Night Spiders with Ashley Carr.  Dr. Chelsea and vet tech Trish introduce Ashley Carr, a longtime horse rider and eventer who pursued vet medicine at CSU, worked as an equine ambulatory tech and later in surgery/anesthesia, then stepped away to focus on producing and rehabbing horses. Ashley discusses how her surgical background helps her rehab cases like kissing spine and other chronic issues by understanding structures, healing timelines, and how horses relearn pain-free movement. She shares the chaotic move from Colorado to Florida—transporting 24 horses plus multiple pets over nine trips, dealing with tire blowouts, roadside delays, and Hurricane Milton preparations in Ocala—and tells stories about Florida wolf spider “eye shine,” huge huntsman spiders, and discovering a hidden cache of rotten, exploding chicken eggs in a barn.

00:00 Show Intro

00:29 Meet Ashley Carr

01:16 Horses to Vet Med

02:23 Old School Farm Calls

04:26 Leaving Vet School Track

05:42 Rehab Philosophy

08:13 Sponsor VetCS

08:48 Colorado to Florida Move

12:16 Hauling Babies South

16:04 Hurricane Detour

23:45 Trailer Trouble Prep

26:28 Tire Blowout Lessons

27:18 Trailer Tire Chaos

28:10 Limping to Tire Shop

30:01 Roadside Assistance Reality

31:37 Wolf Spider Headlamp Horror

36:22 Black Widow Boot Surprise

37:46 Huntsman Spider Sighting

39:33 Chickens and Hidden Eggs

41:52 Exploding Rotten Egg Nest

46:38 Bean Boozled Rotten Egg Flashback

48:58 Wrap Up and Subscribe

From ER Chaos to Fossil Diving: Natalie Pedraja’s Vet Med Journey and Mental Health Advocacy.

Hosts Dr. Chelsea and vet tech Trish welcome licensed vet tech Natalie Pedraja of Virginia, who shares her 17-year path in veterinary medicine, from shadowing as a teen and vet science classes to emergency practice, tech school, and leadership roles. She recounts difficult workplaces, including being terminated for discussing wages, intense GP chaos, patient-care failures and retaliation in academia at WSU, and later conflicts in specialty practice and preclinical research, all contributing to burnout and outpatient mental health treatment supported by FMLA. Natalie describes hobbies that helped her heal, including pottery, foraging, and risky South Carolina river diving for fossils and artifacts, finding megalodon teeth and a mastodon molar. After returning to Virginia and briefly working security, she became an UrgentVet practice manager, improved clinic performance, advocated for staff wages, and built a supportive team culture.

00:00 Show Cold Open

01:27 Scuba Fears and Rivers

04:46 Reef Snorkel Stories

09:20 Early Vet Med Origins

14:23 Tech School and Undergrad

16:20 ER Burnout and Firing

17:25 GP Chaos and Cat Hoarders

24:03 Back to ER and Mentorship

29:17 ICU Culture Shock

31:55 Medical Errors in Academia

34:45 Car Wreck and Burnout

39:16 Securing Gear in Cars

40:38 Favorite Dive Spot

41:53 River Diving Dangers

43:06 Fossil Finds and Big Teeth

46:40 Artifacts and River History

49:49 Pottery and Moving West

52:49 Workplace Conflict and Reporting

55:55 FMLA and Healing Break

58:51 Mall Cop to Practice Manager

01:03:45 Building a Thriving Clinic

01:11:26 Advocacy Wages and Team Care

01:14:56 Wrap Up and Listener Call

Horse Hauling to Florida, Freak Weather, and a Last-Minute Dressage Test Surprise Dr. Chelsea and vet tech Trish share a horse-focused episode shaped by unusual Colorado warmth and concerns about low snowpack and fire season. Chelsea recounts hauling a group of horses 2,700 miles to Florida with minimal issues, then facing extreme cold, wind, frozen water lines, and a living-quarters heater failure during overnight stops, forcing dry camping and improvised sleeping. In Florida, she manages an 8-year-old Thoroughbred’s sudden lameness from a grapefruit-sized shoe boil that became infected, but still competes successfully at Rocking Horse and plans a move-up to Modified. She also describes arriving at a show unaware the dressage tests had changed, quickly memorizing the new test moments before riding. The episode ends with updates on solo trail riding progress, trail and trailer safety planning, and ways to follow and contact the podcast.

00:00 Welcome to the Show

00:47 Colorado Weather Whiplash

02:19 Caravan to Florida

05:08 Horse Motel Survival

07:26 Frozen Mississippi Night

11:37 Back Home and Kids

12:37 Florida Training and Shoe Boil

15:07 Hotspot Data Disaster

16:30 New Dressage Test Panic

24:17 Solo Showing Lessons

27:31 Photos and Fence Cameras

28:47 Palm Trees and Photos

29:09 Meta RayBan Upgrade Talk

31:48 Solo Trail Riding Breakthrough

35:14 Back Cinch and Tack Fit

37:13 Wildlife and Trail Safety

40:21 Rattlesnakes and Summer Risks

42:17 Lane the Forward Horse

47:25 Trailer Safety Course

48:46 Highway Tire Horror Story

52:19 Gooseneck Hitch Lessons

54:43 Wrap Up and Guest Call

Guest: Rachel Harris- Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA), Owner of A Good Feeling Dog Training

Join Dr. Chelsea and Trish as they welcome Rachel Harris, a certified professional positive reinforcement dog trainer with 14 years of experience specializing in reactive and aggressive dog behavior. From her humble beginnings with Sonny, a terrified pit bull who became an agility champion, to wild adventures with her fearless American Staffordshire Terrier Waylon, Rachel shares honest stories about the joys and challenges of working with "spicy" dogs.

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Remember: You're unhinged, but never alone.

Love Triangles and On-Call Chaos with Equine Vet Dr. Holly McMinn Hosts Dr. Chelsea and vet tech Trish welcome equine veterinarian Dr. Holly McMinn from Lebanon Equine in Ohio. Dr. McMinn shares her non-traditional path into veterinary medicine: growing up in California, leaving a training barn, shadowing an equine vet, gaining hands-on skills as an assistant at West Coast Equine, completing her undergrad at Cal Lutheran, and attending Ohio State for vet school. She describes meeting her husband in vet school, joining Lebanon Equine without a formal internship, and working there for six and a half years through a transition to corporate ownership. Dr. McMinn also discusses her farm life with four horses, a miniature mule, and young children. Dr. McMinn tells an on-call emergency story involving a poorly described “down, bleeding” horse (Trevor) at an unfamiliar barn, conflicting accounts of an attack by another horse, unclear ownership and relationships among the people involved, and a public make-out session that led to the barn becoming known as the “love triangle barn.” The case culminates in a planned euthanasia that is later canceled, and the bill not being paid. The group discusses how non-client emergencies can become unsafe, unpredictable, and often unpaid, and Dr. McMinn recounts another after-hours euthanasia call that felt potentially dangerous while walking into a dark pasture. Dr. Chelsea shares her own non-client emergency experience with a severe nail-in-the-foot case complicated by delayed reporting, a girlfriend searching snowbanks for a lost taser, concerns about a possibly stolen trailer, a declined credit card, and a later complaint filed by the horse’s attorney-owner who had felony assault charges on record—reinforcing why they stopped taking non-client emergencies. Dr. McMinn plugs her social media accounts (@HorseDocHolly on Instagram and TikTok), describing a mix of educational and humorous content created late at night. The episode ends with a call for listeners to apply to be guests via unhingedandoncall.com or [email protected], request ratings/reviews on podcast platforms, and subscribe on YouTube.

0:00 Welcome to Unhinged & On-Call (Meet the Hosts)

00:24 Introducing Dr. Holly McMinn from Lebanon Equine

00:51 From Malibu Barn Drama to Shadowing an Equine Vet

02:36 Learning the Ropes: West Coast Equine + Undergrad Years

04:05 Vet School Leap: Ohio State, New Life, and Landing in Ohio

05:24 Lebanon Equine Today: Corporate Transition & Practice Growth

07:43 Farm Life & Mom Mode: Horses in the Backyard, Kids in the Trenches

10:26 Story Time Setup: The On-Call ‘Love Triangle’ Emergency Begins

11:28 Down Horse Chaos: Missing History, Mystery Barn Owners, and Rising Drama

15:22 The Plot Thickens: Brunch Boots, Bucket-Washing ‘Bill,’ and a Makeout Mid-Discharge

18:00 Who Owns Trevor? The Vet Call That Raises More Questions

18:46 Euthanasia Scheduled… Then the Twist: “That’s Not Deb’s Husband”

20:02 Love Triangle Barn Fallout: Awkward PDA, No Answers, No Payment

21:22 Why We Stopped Taking Non‑Client Emergencies

22:00 After‑Hours Down Horse: Walking Into a Crime Podcast Scenario

24:08 Self‑Defense Talk: “I Have Enough Drugs to Drop You”

24:58 Nail-in-the-Foot Nightmare: Taser, Missing Hay, and a Maybe-Stolen Trailer

27:46 Collections & Felony Charges: The Bill That Backfired

29:46 Wrap-Up: Pink Cowboy Boots, Social Media Plug, and Final Goodbyes

32:33 Podcast Outro: Guest Submissions, Ratings, and YouTube Subscribe