VCA Animal Care Center of Sonoma County

Bios

• Kristin MacDonald

  DVM

  Kristin MacDonald, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVIM Dr. MacDonald is a board certified veterinary cardiologist in the College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, and has worked at the Animal Care Center of Sonoma since 2003. Dr. MacDonald graduated veterinary school from Auburn University in 1998, and completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Michigan State University in 1999. She finished a residency in veterinary cardiology at UC Davis in 2000, and earned a PhD at UC Davis Comparative Pathology graduate group in September 2005. Her doctoral research involved hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in Maine Coon cats, and the effects of ACE inhibitors. Dr. MacDonald taught on faculty at UC Davis for one year, before becoming a full-time clinical cardiologist at VCA Animal Care Center of Sonoma. She is active in clinical research involving canine congestive heart failure and feline cardiology, and enjoys working closely with referring veterinarians and clients to help their beloved pets. Dr. MacDonald also enjoys performing interventional cardiac procedures such as pacemaker implantation, pulmonic stenosis valvuloplasty, and percutaneous catheter based closure of patent ductus arteriosus. She is coauthor of Feline Cardiology, a textbook released November 2011, which is the only text dedicated specifically to feline heart disease. She has published several chapters in Veterinary Clinics of North America, The Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine, section editor for Handbook of Small Animal Practice, as well as authored several articles for Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine and American Journal of Veterinary Research. As a mother of 2 young girls, Dr. MacDonald spends free time with her family and yellow Labrador Retriever Stanley, as well as hiking and enjoying food and wine.

  Education:

• Rachel Castellanos

  DVM

  Rachel started at VCA Animal Care Center as an emergency nurse in 1995 and continued to assist at VCA ACC while she attended UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Upon her graduation in 2000 she returned to ACC as an emergency clinician with an interest in small animal emergency medicine. Rachel appreciates the compassionate, dedicated staff at VCA ACC and the tremendous level of teamwork.

• Kelley Hays

  DVM

  Dr. Hays is a Sonoma County native having been raised and educated through high school in Santa Rosa. She completed her undergraduate and veterinary degrees at the University of California, Davis. After completing an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Colorado State University at Ft. Collins in 1989, she returned to the Bay Area where she practiced in small animal general and emergency practices. In 2004, she returned to Sonoma County and began working in the emergency department at VCA ACC. Besides emergency and critical care, she is interested in pain management in both acute and chronic conditions and complementary medicine. Outside of work Dr. Hays enjoys hiking, photography, needlecrafts, cooking and spending time with friends, family and her cats.

• Greg Olson

  DVM

  Greg joined VCA Animal Care Center in 1987 as a technician before attending the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. He graduated in 1994 and returned to VCA Animal Care Center as an emergency clinician. He enjoys being able to help pets and their families in times of need.

• Robin Schaffner

  DVM

  Dr. Schaffner graduated from veterinary school in 2000 from U.C. Davis with several awards under her belt including becoming a member of the prestigious Phi Beta Veterinary Honor society. During school she spent a summer in Botswana conducting a study on distemper virus in lion & jackal populations. She also did externships at the Animal Medical Center in New York as well as the Alameda East Veterinary Hospital in Colorado (Yes, the very same hospital featured on "Emergency Vets" show on television). Robin was also interested in zoological medicine & spent many weekends working with birds, reptiles, & many other "exotic" species. After veterinary school Dr. Schaffner completed a 12 month internship at a busy referral hospital in San Diego. There, she worked intimately with board-certified specialists & focused on small animal medicine, surgery, & emergency medicine. Dr. Schaffner also enjoys travel, hiking, jazz & opera, riding motorcycles, & speaking Spanish.

• Laura Slater

  DVM

  In 1990 Laura graduated from Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine, she then completed an internship and a year of general practice at Sacramento Animal Medical Group. Laura began practicing emergency and critical care medicine in private practice in southern California before joining VCA Animal Care Center in 1996 as an emergency clinician. She has a special interest in emergency surgery.

• Michael Magne

  DVM

  Michael received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1981 from the University of Illinois where he also fulfilled his internship. In 1985 he completed a residency and master's degree in clinical veterinary medicine at Colorado State University. He worked briefly at the Santa Cruz Veterinary Hospital before helping to found VCA Animal Care Center. He became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 1985 and is extensively published in veterinary and medical literature including the Veterinary Therapy Textbook of Internal Medicine. His special areas of interest include gastroenterology and oncology.

  Education:

• Melanie Campbell

  DVM

  Dr. Campbell earned her DVM degree from the University of California at Davis in 2001. After completing a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at VCA Emergency Animal Hospital and Referral Center in San Diego in 2002, she returned to UC Davis as a postgraduate researcher in the Comparative Cancer Research Laboratory, investigating canine brain tumors. Dr. Campbell completed her residency in neurology and neurosurgery at UC Davis in 2006. Her interests include neurosurgery, cancer of the nervous system, and inflammatory neurologic diseases. Originally from southern California, Dr. Campbell enjoys the outdoors alongside her husband, JT, and their two sons. Her hobbies include traveling, triathlons, and cooking.

• James Lavely

  DVM

  James Lavely, DVM, Diplomate ACVIM, Neurology Dr. Lavely received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from The Ohio State University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1999. He then completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston, MA. After which, Dr. Lavely completed his residency in neurology/neurosurgery at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in July 2003 and became board certified in veterinary neurology in July 2004. Dr. Lavely has presented research in spinal epidural empyema (abscess) and the use of single fiber electromyography for the detection of myasthenia gravis at the American College of Veterinary Medicine national forums in 2002 and 2003. Dr. Lavely has authored several publications including invited reviews on fungal infections of the nervous system and pediatric neurology. Dr. Lavely joined VCA ACC in 2003 and enjoys working with a motivated team, dedicated to providing high quality specialty care. Amongst many aspects of neurology,Dr. Lavely is particularly interested in inflammatory and infectious diseases of the nervous system, myasthenia gravis, MR imaging and neurosurgery.

• Lisa Tieber

  DVM

  Dr. Tieber obtained a bachelors and masters degree in psychology early in her academic career. As a part of this training she spent several years working with adults and children with brain injuries and developmental disabilities. Her desire to work with and help both animals and people led her to Iowa State University where she received her veterinary medical degree in 2001. The following year she did a small animal medicine and surgery internship in New York City at the Animal Medical Center. She spent an additional year at Michigan Veterinary Specialists as the internship coordinator and emergency clinician. Her fascination with neurology made specializing in neurology and neurosurgery the obvious next step and she completed a neurology/neurosurgery residency at Auburn University in 2006. She became board certified in veterinary neurology from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine the same year. Dr. Tieber has expanded her role as a neurologist by receiving training in veterinary acupuncture through the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society. She is also certified in canine physical rehabilitation through the Canine Rehabilitation Institute. She is particularly interested in seizure management, neuromuscular diseases, peripheral nerve diseases, and pain management. She has been published in several veterinary journals and the Clinical Veterinary Advisor. Her family consists of a wonderful husband, son, several cats, and a dog. She loves to travel and spend time outdoors.

• Diccon Westworth

  BVSc

  Dr. Westworth received a BVSc with Honors (DVM) in 1995 from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He completed a surgical internship in Sydney, Australia in 2002. In 2006 he completed a Neurology/Neurosurgery residency at University of California, Davis. He became board certified in veterinary neurology, Diplomate American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, that same year and joined the VCA Animal Care Center of Sonoma County. Dr. Westworth has published in international veterinary journals in subjects including choroid plexus brain tumors and spinal congenital anomalies.

• Lisa Alexander

  DVM

  Lisa received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 1983 and moved south to complete a one-year rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at West Los Angeles Veterinary Medical Group. Following her internship she stayed on in West Los Angeles as a staff veterinarian for a year. In 1985 she began her small animal surgery residency at Tufts University and Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston, MA, moving back to the Bay Area in 1988. She was the staff surgeon in a multi-specialist group practice in Berkeley for 12 years before joining VCA ACC in 2000. She became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1997, and has given many professional presentations and is the author of several professional articles. Lisa has served on committees within the Surgery College and has been a consultant to the Board of Examiners in Veterinary Medicine for the State of California. Lisa appreciates the commitment at VCA ACC, at all levels, which is to provide the finest care for the patients. It is what brought her to VCA ACC and what keeps her here.

• Sara Schachter

  DVM

  Dr. Schachter received her DVM from the University of California-Davis in 1997 and completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the prestigious Animal Medical Center in New York City in 1998. She moved back to the Bay Area and completed a residency in Small Animal Internal Medicine at the University of California-Davis. She continued at UCD as a clinical fellow, while completing her certification in Small Animal Internal Medicine. Pursuing her interest in diabetes, Dr. Schachter completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the world-renowned Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard University in 2002. That same year, she worked as a consultant for Cardiopet, assisting veterinarians throughout North America with cardiac and internal medicine cases. At the end of 2002, she started the Internal Medicine Department at Special Veterinary Services in Berkeley, where she practiced for 3 years. In 2005 she started Veterinary Internal Medicine Associates in Fairfield, California, where she worked until joining VCA Animal Care Center. Dr. Schachter has special interests in endocrine disorders and oncology. Dr. Schachter currently resides in the rural outskirts of Santa Rosa area with her husband, her 3 sons, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 llamas, 3 goats, 2 horses, 3 4H bunnies and a flock of chickens. In her spare time she enjoys running, swimming, bicycling, traveling, dressage, and 3-day eventing.

• Justin Williams

  DVM

  Dr. Williams obtained his veterinary medical degree in 2007 from Colorado State University after completing his undergraduate degree at the University of California at Los Angeles. He then completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital near Denver, Colorado. Dr. Williams finished his three-year cardiology residency at the MSPCA Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston in 2011, became a board certified veterinary cardiologist in the College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and then joined VCA-Animal Care Center. Originally from Arizona, he enjoys the outdoors alongside his wife, Emily, and their two children. His hobbies include flyfishing, hiking, photography, drawing and ice hockey.

• Courtney Ikuta

  DVM

  Dr. Ikuta is a California native who graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 2005. She then completed a rotating small animal internship at Animal Specialty Group in Los Angeles, where she also completed a small animal surgery specialty internship. She was an orthopedic research fellow at Colorado State University and she completed her surgical residency at the Animal Medical Center in New York City before returning to the west coast. Dr. Ikuta's interests outside of veterinary medicine are cooking and eating great food, volleyball, skiing and travel.

• Laura West

  DVM

  Dr. Laura West received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Georgia in 2007. She completed a rotating internship at VCA Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center in Norwalk, Connecticut from 2007-2008, as well as a specialty internship in internal medicine at Animal Specialty Group in Los Angeles, California from 2008-2009. Dr. West completed her residency training at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital in San Diego, California from 2009-2012. During her residency, she performed a pilot studying investigating the use of mycophenolate in the treatment of immune-mediated hemolytic anemia. Dr. West became a Diplomate of the American College of Internal Medicine in 2013 upon acceptance of this study for publication. Dr. West is interested in all areas of internal medicine, but has special interest in feline medicine, immune-mediated disease, and endocrinology. Dr. West is skilled in many procedures, including abdominal ultrasound and all forms of endoscopy. Dr. West greatly values spending time with her husband and their 3 cats: Kitten, Gypsy, and Ginger. In her personal time, she also enjoys yoga, running, and hiking in the great outdoors.