Rita was so much fun to talk to! She is from Australia, but has Finish heritage and she now lives in the UK. Rita loves our rolling countryside but does miss home. Oddly, she is scared of birds! Rita is so caring and compassionate and her most memorable part of being a vet will bring a tear to your eye. 

We did learn something super interesting though….I asked Rita what she loves about physio. She replied very enthusiastically,  “well I love hydrotherapy” and so I found that funny, since it wasn’t the question and she went on to say lovely things about rehabbing. So after the interview, I do wish I recorded this bit!

I asked her if she had any concerns about physio, as I thought it was a great opportunity to address any worries. She replied “I thought hydrotherapy and physiotherapy were the same thing!” Poor Rita was then mortified as she honestly loves the whole rehab process but hadn’t realised us rehabbers have different disciplines! Well, we giggled a lot, I enlightened her to our differences and she will log it as CPD. So it was, in all, a great opportunity to also explain to a vet the difference between hydrotherapy and physiotherapy. 

If you are a vet who would like more information on what us physio do, get in touch and ask. We are happy to help and we are so aware that it’s not easy to understand what someone else does for their part of the job. 

What Rita Loves About Physio (or rehab!)

So yeah, I mean, I think it’s a great way for owners to get involved in the treatment of their pet as well. And I think owners want to be involved. I think that’s what’s really special about physio, because most of the time, they can be there with with their pet as well and they want to be there and to share to share that and see what’s going on. And certainly, there’s huge advances being made like in every avenue of Veterinary Medicine, and with that we’re following the same route as human medicine now, which I think is absolutely brilliant. So the same opportunities and treatments are available now for our animals, which is what should be what it should be like. And I think owners are really thankful for that. And, now with insurance, a lot of people having their insurance on board, they’ve got access to it, which is fantastic.

Rita Alitalo Biography

I graduated  from Murdoch University (Perth, Western Australia) in 1996 after fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming a vet. 

I have worked around Australia and England in a multitude of small animal practices , including emergency hospitals.

I very recently made a move to telemedicine and balance my professional life with 4 children, 2 dogs and 2 cats in Buckinghamshire.”

If you want to catch up on our past shows then catch up on our vlogs page. You can also watch out shows live on our facebook and youtube channels.

Enjoy the show! And if you want to nominate your vet to join Donna for an interview, then email [email protected] and we will do our best.