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Meet Dr. Melissa Walker

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Animals light up the soul. They reflect our own innocence, goofiness, individualism, mischievousness, and compassion. They remind us of the very best parts of ourselves. Our pets love us unconditionally and for that, we love them, they become a part of our family and we want the best for them. It is an honor to be chosen to be on your pet’s health care team. It is truly a blessing to do this work!
 

Dr. Walker entered the world of veterinary medicine at age fifteen. It was a natural fit for her as she has had a lifelong love of animals, an inquisitive spirit, an analytical mind, and a compassionate soul. She enjoyed all aspects of practice especially taking care of the patients and client care and communication. She had found her calling.

 

Dr. Walker was fortunate to receive an excellent education at St. Lawrence University majoring in biology and minoring in Chemistry. She was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology at age twenty three. Following university she attended Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. At that time, she had a strong interest in emergency and critical care. She received the IVECCS award for emergency and critical care at graduation and went on to work at a twenty four hour veterinary hospital in Seattle straight out of vet school. That experience was invaluable for honing her diagnostic, problem solving, surgery, and general western medical skills.

She found that she was more suited to general practice than emergency medicine as her heart would not allow her to ignore the chronic ear infection and just focus on the emergency condition which was often necessary to keep up with the number of patients. She wanted her patients to go home with the best possible chance of a great quality of life and her heart broke if she knew that the patient may not be able to get the follow up care that they needed.

 

Dr. Walker has been fortunate to have worked with some amazing clinicians doing general practice and early in her career, she was exposed to different treatment modalities including physical rehabilitation, acupuncture, and massage for animals. She was impressed with the results that others were able to achieve and she desired a more holistic approach to healing than what many of her colleagues were providing. During that time she was struggling with her own health issues and she really began to dive deep into learning more about the causes of disease and alternative treatment modalities.

 

Her passion for alternative medicine began in earnest with a desire to heal herself from severe inflammatory bowel disease. Conventional medicine was not working and her life depended on her finding alternative avenues for healing. She was desperate to find effective treatment that did not have horrible side effects, that actually improved her health, instead of acting as a band aid for her symptoms and not really addressing the root cause of the problem.

 

During this exploration, she was completely out of her comfort zone as what she was learning was very different from what she had learned in veterinary school. The uncomfortableness changed to excitement as the treatments worked and she began to have hope that her body could heal.

 

Over the years she has been able to obtain a wide variety of skills in healing modalities including acupuncture, herbal medicine, energy medicine, and applied kinesiology. Dr. Walker is a member of AHVMA, IVAS, AAVA, VBMA, CIVT, AVMA, and CAVM. She strives to constantly increase her knowledge and skill set and with that her understanding of health and disease broadens every day.

 

She studied acupuncture with IVAS and Traditional Chinese Veterinary Food Therapy with the Chi Institute in 2011. She also began to learn about the morphogenic energy field as this had made the most dramatic impact in shifting her own disease process. Her primary treatment modalities have been acupuncture, chinese herbal medicine, and nutritional supplementation over the last six years. Once she was able to unravel what was happening in her own body and apply that knowledge to her patients with positive results, she could not go back to the old way of thinking.

 

Dr. Walker utilizes both her conventional and alternative medicine skills to provide truly integrative health care for her patients. She loves teaching and empowering others to make better choices for their pets.

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Meet Toulouse! A special healer in my life.

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My special boy, Rugby

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Meet Our Team

D'Mari

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Meet our amazing veterinary technician and administrator, D'Mari! She has been caring for animals since 2011 and has worked in various fields such as holistic care, relief, spay and neuter, surgical, and specialty. With years of experience under her belt, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our team.

D'Mari has a special place in her heart for animals, which is evident in her own furry companions - a chihuahua terrier mix dog named Nala and a rag doll cat named Milly. She understands the importance of the bond between pets and their owners, and is committed to providing the best care possible for every animal she comes into contact with.

She is excited to work alongside our talented veterinarian, Dr. Walker, and provide top-notch care to all of our clients and their furry family members. Her fun, sweet, genuine, and personal approach will surely make you and your pet feel at ease.

In her free time, D'Mari enjoys practicing yoga, biking, exploring nature, and spending quality time with her loved ones. Her passion for animals extends beyond the workplace, and she can often be found volunteering at local animal shelters and rescue organizations.

We are incredibly lucky to have D'Mari as a member of our team, and we know that you and your furry friend will love her just as much as we do!

Jenny

Frequently Asked Questions

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