I’m one of those vets who always wanted to be a vet. I grew up in the Midwest with three sisters and assorted pets: dogs, cats, the mice from school who came home for the summer as a couple and returned as a multitude, even a tank of silkworms that kept all of us busy one summer defoliating every mulberry tree on the block. Those worms made so much noise chewing that we had to keep them in the garage!
At Kansas State University, I became involved in wildlife rehabilitation, raising ferrets, and working for a crisis intervention hotline. The crisis management skills I learned at the hotline came in very handy the time I brought 15 baby raccoons home for my parents to “coon-sit” for a week, and the time one of my ferrets latched onto my mother’s hand and would not let go. My family deserves a medal for putting up with me and my four-legged companions.
I graduated from KSU in May 1986, and fled the Midwest with 200 pounds of dogs in a mini-pick-up. New Jersey here we come. I was fortunate to be hired in a very busy five doctor practice with a lot of team effort and supervision-a wonderful environment for learning what they failed to mention in vet school. One of the great people I met there is a board certified surgeon from Australia. Working with him gave me far more experience and ability in surgery than I could have found elsewhere. I also worked with a wonderful technician- Colleen. She has since become a wonderful vet and I am happy to have her in my practice. I spent a total of ten years in New Jersey before I overdosed on east coast humidity and Phoenix beckoned.
Currently I share a home with four french bulldogs, 4 cats, a turtle, and a few ponds with beautiful coy fish. I feel very lucky to be doing what I love, loving what I do, and slowly but surely making strides to make Bethany Animal Hospital into all I dream it can be.