Don't Call Me Catty
Don’t Call Me Catty is the unapologetic, plain-talking podcast for veterinary professionals who want real conversations, not sugarcoating. Hosted by Jillian Carr, a veterinary financial strategist, and Leilani Saad, co-founder and CEO of a 24/7 veterinary teletriage company, the show dives into the messy, meaningful parts of vet med: burnout, boundaries, big decisions, money moves, and midnight emergencies.
The podcast began as a pop-up at a veterinary trade show, where unscripted, in-the-moment conversations with the community struck a chord and sparked something bigger. Today, it continues to grow into a movement connecting vet med professionals and their clients through honesty, humor, and the courage to say the quiet parts out loud. Whether you’re leading a practice, on the clinic floor, or you just love animals, this is your space for truth, tools, and the occasional F-bomb.
Don't Call Me Catty
Thierry (Jerry) Locati, RVT | Talking to Pet Owners Is His Full-Time Job
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We sit down with Jerry Locati, an RVT whose full-time job is talking to pet owners when they’re worried, overwhelmed, and unsure what to do next.
Jerry shares his path into veterinary medicine, what led him to become an RVT, and who he is outside of the profession (including his life as a bass guitarist while off the clock). We talk about his role at Animal HealthLink, where he’s often the voice on the phone when a pet owner is facing a potential crisis and needs calm, experienced guidance.
The conversation explores what it’s really like to specialize in communication as a clinical skill, while supporting pet owners across a wide variety of cases, many far outside his own geographic region. Jerry reflects on the rewards of being an RVT, the cases that stick with him long after the call ends, and why he’s become known for his steady, reassuring presence in high-stress moments.
We also pull back the curtain on how Animal HealthLink calls typically unfold: what happens behind the scenes, how decisions are made, and what most people never get to see about this kind of work.
This episode is about the power of calm, the weight of responsibility, and what it means to care for animals by caring for the people who love them, one conversation at a time.
About Jerry
Thierry graduated the Olds College AHT program with honours in 1997. He began his career at The Calgary North Emergency Hospital in the summer of 1997 in the emergency department. In 2002 Thierry started in the Internal Medicine department until September of 2008. In 2008 Thierry played an instrumental role in helping to setup the first Antech Laboratory Stat Lab in western Canada located in the Care centre building in Calgary Alberta. Thierry worked at Antech Laboratories as a lab tech and supervisor until his departure in the fall of 2015, when he moved to Vancouver Island.
Since then he has worked in practice at local ER's and primary care veterinary clinics on the south Island. He began working for AHL as a triage operator in September of 2023. Thierry has a dog, Lola and a cat, Stella. Thierry's special interests are lab work, internal medicine and triage.
Learn More about Animal HealthLink: ahl.vet
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For podcast inquiries, please contact dontcallmecatty@gmail.com
