Sneak Peek: What to Expect on Our LIVE Episode Dec 21!

You're listening to Starlight Pet Talk, a podcast for pet parents who want the best pet care advice from cat experts, dog trainers, veterinarians and other top pet professionals who will help you live your very best life with your pets. We also share inspiring rescue and adoption stories from people who've taken their love of pets to the next level by getting involved in animal welfare. My name is Amy Castro and I'm the founder and president of Starlight Outreach and Rescue and a columnist for Pet Age Magazine. I've rescued thousands of animals and helped people just like you find the right pet for their family. My mission is to help pet parents learn all the ways that they can care for, live with and even have fun with their pets so they can live their very best lives and their pets can too. Welcome to Starlight Pet Talk. I'm your host, amy Castro, and I am thrilled to be here with you today as we dive into this short but special preview of what we have coming up in our special live episode this Thursday, december 21st, at 6 pm Central Standard Time On this Facebook live event. Get ready for a trip down memory lane, because we're about to reveal what you decided was your top favorite episodes from this past season, our very first season. Before I tell you more about this live episode, I do want to take the time and just take a moment to express my gratitude to each and every one of you. Your support, your feedback and your enthusiasm for this show have made this first season truly memorable. I'm especially grateful to all the people around the world who have listened to us since we started on February 14th 2023. I never anticipated that people would be listening as far away as Australia, new Zealand, china. It just blows my mind, and you know. Not only have we gained great listeners and followers, but all of you have shown your loyalty and your caring for animals by becoming part of our Starlight Outreach and Rescue family, whether it is following our Facebook page or subscribing to our quarterly newsletter or just following our website. If you didn't know, this podcast began as part of Starlight Outreach and Rescue's mission of education. At this rescue, we believe that the solution to our pet overpopulation crisis and our abandonment crisis is bottom line, no doubt, better educated pet parents. Every single day, we get calls from people seeking help with their pets. Most often, the conversation starts with I want to surrender my pet or I need to get rid of my pet, and people have a variety of reasons for that. It would be so easy for us to just say, yes, we can take it, or no, we can't, we're full. But I always like to start that conversation with why? Why do you want to give up your pet? And very often I spend 30 minutes or more, you know, sometimes an hour talking through these problems that people are having with their pets and offering solutions based on my I don't like to admit this, but 30 plus years working with animals. With the podcast, we've been able to exponentially expand this education from one-on-one conversations to thousands of downloads, which basically means thousands of listeners, thousands of people educated, and you've helped us basically feel good and know that the information that we're offering from our personal experience, from the pet experts that we've had on, the veterinarians that we have had on and other people that you find this valuable and we thank you so much for listening. Now let's talk about this upcoming live episode. So we've already started crunching numbers. We've been reviewing your messages, we have been tallying up the votes on our survey and we're getting super excited and can't wait to share the results with you. If you recall, the very first episode of this podcast began with me and my best friend, bev Brooks, talking about a lot how we became friends, how we got involved with horses and animals, how I started the rescue and how the podcast got started and what were our goals or our hopes and dreams for the podcast. And so, for this final episode of our first season, bev is going to be joining me here live at the Rescue Ranch in Alvin, texas. I can't believe we're doing this to ourselves, and our goal is going to be to recap this first season with you From insightful interviews and thought-provoking discussions this past year, we have covered a wide range of topics that matter to you, from pet health and nutrition to products that we personally love. Here at the rescue, we've really strived to bring you valuable content with the goal of helping you live your very best life with all the pets that you love. I also think our special insight episodes where we've looked at other animal rescues, nonprofit organizations that help veterans and even tackled some difficult subjects like the death of a pet. I think what that has done is shown that the world of pets and living our lives with pets is really a very, very broad one, with a lot of different facets, from joys and triumphs to challenges, and more so when we reveal your favorite episodes in the next two days. I really encourage you to take some time between now and then to revisit some of those memorable moments. Maybe there's a particular episode that you feel that really left a lasting impression on you, or one that you can't get enough of and you keep going back and listening to again. Make sure you vote for it. If you haven't already done so yet, there is still time. We're not going to close out the survey until midnight tonight, and there is a link to that survey in the show notes for this episode. It takes less than a minute to vote, so please get out there and cast your vote for your favorite episode. Also, please take a moment to share your thoughts with us on social media using our hashtag starlightpettalk. We really would love to hear your reflections of the past year. And, speaking of social media, don't forget to follow us on Facebook, youtube, tiktok X and Instagram and stay up to date on all things Starlight Pet Talk, and we'll make sure that those links are in our show notes too. We have some super exciting plans for the future, and we want you to be part of that journey, so make sure you keep communicating with us, make sure you stay in touch and help us guide this program into the next year and beyond. Okay, so it's time to do a little more teasing about the upcoming episode. In addition to revealing your top favorite episodes, bev and I are also going to reflect on our favorite episodes and why we like them in particular. We're also going to have some special behind the scenes stories, maybe reveal some bloopers that didn't quite make the cut onto the show, because there were some interesting ones that came along. So, trust me, you're not going to want to miss that. So make sure to mark your calendars, set your reminders and get ready for a celebration of the fantastic moments that we've all shared together this season, and join us on our last and final episode of 2023. Live on the Starlight Outreach and Rescue Facebook page. And again, that is going to be on December 21st at 6pm, central Standards Time, where we will announce your favorite episodes and reminisce about the incredible journey we've all been on together since February of 2023. And, as always, thank you. Thank you, thank you for being a part of the Starlight Pet Talk podcast community. Until next time. This is Amy Caster signing off and, as we always like to say if you don't do anything else this week, give your pets a big hug from us. See you next week and every week for a brand new episode of Starlight Pet Talk. And if you don't do anything else this week, give your pets a big hug from us.