Viral vet: How a homegrown veterinary practice became a social media sensation

WEISENBERG TWP., Pa. — Dr. Tim Mosebey's life revolves around three things: his veterinary practice in Breinigsville; his partner, Allison; and their beloved two-year-old border collie mix, Rosie.

So Moseby said the last thing he expected to be was a social media sensation.

However, when colleague and social media guru Brooke Fuhrmann approached him with a blond wig and a TikTok idea, his life forever changed.

“We did not expect to go viral at all,” Mosebey said this week from his office at West Lehigh Veterinary Care. “We just thought it was a funny skit.”

Picture this: Lights up on a plain exam room. Rosie, the aforementioned pup, stares nervously ahead of her, with layered text reading “Is the doctor a man? She doesn't like men.”

Suddenly, in struts Mosebey, donning a blond wig and a sassy pose.

“Ordinary Girl” by Hannah Montana plays as Mosebey works the room, seemingly trying to both comfort Rosie and convince her that, somehow, the doctor is not a man.

Rosie quizzically stares back.

The TikTok post in question, posted June 2, now has more than 11 million views and comments from people as far away as Germany, Canada and Australia.

(Also, for those curious, the red spots on her coat are pet-friendly dye. It's pink, actually. Her name is Rosie, after all.)

Homegrown business, social media

Rosie's encounter with the fabulous Dr. Mosebey, also known by his drag name “Auora Shematoma,” is among many pieces of creative content spearheaded by Mosebey's receptionist, Brooke Fuhrmann, and her colleagues at West Lehigh.

Fuhrmann was hired by the practice shortly after it opened in April.

She arrived with an extensive animal background, but also with a fondness for social media, having herself gone viral a few times on her own TikTok account.

“I had this hospice cat, Georgie, and he was scheduled to be euthanized at my house,” she said. “The day that he was scheduled to be put down, I caught him eating a cinnamon roll off my plate and filmed him. I think the cinnamon roll cured him.

“He wound up living for another six months.”

Fuhrmann said she saw an opportunity to turn the new practice's presence on social media, particularly TikTok, into something special.

“There's a lot of opportunity to be entertaining, but it's also about putting a bit of good out into the world,” she said.

In addition to answering phones, scheduling appointments and checking in furry friends, Fuhrmann is the brains behind the practice's social media presence.

There are vet techs in wig caps, puppies at reception desks and references to the TV sitcom “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

It's perfectly silly — with an emphasis on “perfect.”

Educate, entertain the community

But even more than being silly, social media is a great vehicle for pet parent education, according to both Mosebey and Fuhrmann.

“We have owners who don't bring their pets to the vet because they don't like seeing their pet so stressed out,” Mosebey said. “Through [social media], we're trying to make things more relatable, more personable.

Furhmann added, “We want the community to know who we are and what we're about, so I'm focused on establishing a brand at this point.

“But educational videos are coming.”

The practice has its first open house on June 15.