Parents, bring the kids around for this one! They'll be excited to hear it, and for a VM4IBI first, there is no cursing at all!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, whatever you believe and celebrate. For a midseason finale, The Idiots (all three, including Merry Bethmas, the Associate Producer Idiot) talk vet med on reindeer. At least, the first half is, until Cory gets a text from a guy calling himself "Santa" and asks us to talk about his 9 reindeer. Beth, who is the Christmas Reindeer expert, teaches us even more about the reindeer that help Santa deliver millions of presents around the world each Christmas Eve night! Don't want to miss this, lest you might end up on the naughty list, like Dr Kent and Cory! Also, apologies for the sound quality for Kent's parts-he left his microphone at home, and is somehow convinced his AirPods work just as well.

We will be taking a short break for holiday festivities, but will be back early 2026. This season has been groundbreaking for us in so many way, including the fact that we have already done more episodes that we typically do in a full season, have had some collossal guests, and have expanded the brand to 3 total Idiots. Also, you may hear that we have added in some advertisements. We have partnered with Libsyn and with Audacy for advertisements. We don't necessariy endorse anything that has been put with our episodes for ads, but frankly, we simply sold out. That said, we have purposely only added ads to the front and back of every episode, at least for now, as we have always aimed for our show to feel like a sit down chat, not an overly produced slick show. We appreciate all of your listeningship, and hope that you come along for the next chapter of the show. We do this because you do what you do. Thank you so much, and we'll talk with you next year.

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a private and private vet clinic is? Listen in this week with our friend Dr. Xanda Fuhrken, who has been in both worlds, as we compare and contrast the worlds. We also talk about the large conglomerates that masquerade as a small town vet clinic and how to find out if they are, should you wish. We also somehow give a shout out to Shelby, Xanda's sister, so check her out on TikTok @shelbolognapepperonipizza. Worth it.

Howdy, listenerlings!! This week's episode is a fun one. Beth, The Associate Producer Idiot joins our discussion with our new friend Raffaela Lesch, PhD, who was the lead researcher in studying trends showing that raccoons are following a similar path that wolves did en route to becoming dogs. The good news, this means that trash pandas may become domesticated, possibly self-domesticated, to be pets. Ya know, little bandit masked housemates! The bad news, unless you plan to live for another 10k+ years, you likely will never own one. Does anyone have a number for a cryogenic deep freeze person? Dogtor Kent may be interested.

The discussion is lively, fun, relaxed, and just an all around good time. If you want to read the nitty gritty details, check out Raffaela's research at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12983-025-00583-1

https://www.raffaelalesch.com/

Today is Giving Tuesday, and what a fortuitous timing for this episode to drop (trust me, Cory did not plan it this way, it's just stupid luck). The Idiots sit down with Gigi Tsontos and Jenny Glasgow, executive director and president of the board, respectively, of Not One More Vet, or NOMV. It's hard exactly to pin down what NOMV is, but as a very basic description, they are an incredibly important group, coalition, movement that gives veterinary professionals (from the lead doctors and owners of clinics to techs to cleaning crews) resources, education, and a collective to focus on mental health. NOMV is saving lives, enriching lives, and making the veterinary world a better place. Happier vets mean happier pets.

This episode does have to talk about the dark side, the ones lost, and this helps bring more understanding and appreciation to the light. We Idiots are incredibly humbled to have been able to spend an hour talking with Gigi and Jenny about an organization they are clearly so (deservedly) proud of that the world absolutely needs.

As this is Giving Tuesday, as previously mentioned, please find it in your heart, if you can, to donate to https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5BQGXT8YNKUH4. A little bit goes a long way, and they explain where some of the funds go in the episode. Vet Med For Idiots By Idiots wholeheartedly endorses NOMV and cannot say enough good about them.

https://nomv.org/

www.chubbydognation.com for weightloss solutions for your pet, if they're a little on the chubby side.

So, against his wishes, Cory the Common Idiot has a cat. Her name is referred to as Silver or Silvie in the episode, but she is actually named Wobbles the Wonder Cat, because it annoys Amber, the Brain Witch Idiot. Anyway, Wobbles is extra special because she has a condition called cerebellar hypoplasia. This basically makes basic movements slightly...off. A wobbly kitty, if you will. The Idiots discuss her condition, almost give away the story on how she ended up in the Common Idiot's household (a story for a later time), and the condition of cerebellar hypoplasia, what it does, why it affects movements, and Kent's stupid fingers.

Happy Tuesday, and we have a show for you! The Idiots have a HUGE announcement, then discuss veterinary medicine differences around the globe (or across the board, if you're a flat earther), mainly focusing on rural Africa and Germany. They discuss making something out of nothing, regulations, and how the US could be better, and what a hyena kiss is. Also, lots of escaped thoughts, but that's just par the course for the Idiots.

This week, The Idiots discuss VPAs, or...ya know what, I am not going to tell you what a VPA is because it takes away the mystery. This is what they call in the show biz "a teaser". Are you interested? I hope so! Anyway, Dr. Kent compares VPAs to something similar in human medicine, and they discuss potential goods and bads of VPAs. Just listen. I'm really sleepy and have nothing in the creative tank. I mean, I named the episode "VPAs". Just lower your standards this once, please. Thanks!

Hey everyone! Meet Jae. They are an awesome listener/fan who reached out, has some things to say about being in the vet world as a rookie, sometimes scared, sometimes not knowing what to expect, but feeling their way through and getting better every day. Listen up, because they also talk about what it takes to be a great client and what to avoid to not be a boneheaded one! Plus, talks of bottle feeding kittens. So, pull up a seat at the proverbial table, grab a beer (except Jae, Jae will be drinking a soda or juice or something because they're a youngin'), and learn to not just respect your elders, but your younger generation, because they have something worth listening to.

Huge thank you, also, to Jae for this episode. We recorded it 3 times. The first two times, the files were lost (see previous episode in Spooky Season about why Cory has to use his wife's computer for the time being), this time, it recorded, but for some reason, our program ONLY worked with cell phones. Fate was not kind to us this time around. I will say, I am incredibly impressed with the sound quality I got from her AirPod Pros, and if Apple wants to sponsor us in the form of, say, a couple new MacBooks, some new AirPod Pros (especially for Kent), and a suitcase full of money (not milk), we would kindly accept!

Spooky Season is finally ending, and the Idiots end it with a fizzle. Piggybacking off of last week's Vampire and Tuberculosis episode, the discussion dives into more vampire legends, including the tie into wolves and bats, disease creating a weakness to sunlight, water and rabies, and how these and other misunderstandings with disease and how it spread directly impacted the lore of the classic vampires we know today. There literally was even a Great Vampire Pandemic. Fun times.

Keeping the Spooky Season eps rolling, Idiots Cory and Doctor Kent discuss Tuberculosis and the foundation of the modern vampire that has come from it. That's basically it. They talk about how not sexy tuberculosis is, both in what it does to the body (not just the lungs) and the bacterium. Stay vaccinated, stay safe, and don't handle dead bodies that died of an unknown disease without PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).

Also, Ellis makes another guest appearance.