Heather Keating

“Heather is a dedicated member of our team, who is an expert in anesthesia and dentistry. However, our clients love most that she runs her own schedule of technician appointments to spend extra time with the owners versus most clinics that just take the pets in the back and give injections/treatments and then send them out the door. She deserves the promotion for her dedication over the last 16 years.”

Danielle Becraft

“Dani has been with our practice since August 2001 and is our Surgery Manager. She is truly one of the kindest, selfless and most patient people I have met in my 33 years of veterinary medicine. She will literally stop whatever she is doing to help any of her coworkers, without hesitation and ALWAYS with a smile. She is extremely passionate about veterinary medicine and outstanding patient care is always her top priority. If anyone has any trouble drawing blood or placing a catheter, it is Dani to the rescue. It doesn’t matter if it is a tiny kitten or a 20+ year old dehydrated, 4 lbs. cat, she will get it and almost always on the first try! Her dedication to Dupont Veterinary Clinic does not go unnoticed, because when she is not here, it’s just not the same.

She is well known by all of our clients, she is always willing to stay late, come in early or even come in on her day off, without ever complaining about it. She rarely gets a lunch unless we force her to and the same goes for leaving, she is always the last one to leave as she always makes sure everyone is taken care of and doesn’t need any help. She is also the baker of the clinic and always makes every staff member a special birthday treat (and we have 38 staff members!). She is truly one of a kind and the backbone of our practice. We love her so much and could not imagine the clinic without her.”

Kaitlyn O’Brien

“I do not envy the person or people who have to decide which technicians should be nominated for National Veterinary Technician Week because without them (all of them), our lives would be so much more difficult. I suppose you hear over and over why one LVT should be nominated over another…I will try to explain why it should be Kaitlyn.

I have known Kaitlyn for about four and a half years, and from day one she has proven how vitally important and how incredibly compassionate she is. She has the benefit of having the experience of working in both specialty and general practice settings. She takes great pride in the quality of her work and is not satisfied until it has been done correctly. She is very skilled in assessing emergency and critical patients, and triaging cases as they come into the hospital, and in all aspects of general animal care. Whenever I’m in surgery and she is monitoring anesthesia, I know without a doubt I and my patient are in excellent hands. She is always willing to help and will come in on her day off if needed at a moment’s notice.

I could go on and on about all the things Kaitlyn does for our hospital and all the ways she stands out above everyone else, but the most important quality about Kaitlyn is that she is a good person and she cares, both of which are qualities that are hard to find in a lot of people these days. I hope you will consider Kaitlyn O’Brien for nomination for National Veterinary Technician Week. I believe she truly deserves it.”

Starr Royce

“Starr Royce has been a valuable member of the medical team at the Monadnock Humane Society for the past 4 years. She has been an integral part in helping us start a low-cost wellness clinic, a rabies clinic and a low-cost spay/neuter clinic. She handles all the paperwork, drug logs and client communications. Starr repeatedly goes above and beyond the call of duty. She comes in on her days off and receives calls and text messages at all hours of the day and night, including weekends.

Starr has increased her skill set tremendously since starting at the shelter. She can place IV catheters, perform phlebotomies, take radiographs, monitor anesthesia, and run all the laboratory equipment in our facility. She is very good at troubleshooting and she excels at client communication and works well in a team setting. She is a valuable asset on a daily basis keeping the clinic running smoothly, scheduling all appointments and procedures and keeping us focused and on task. She orders all the medical supplies and maintains our inventory.

Our shelter is very busy and fast-paced and the demand for our clinical services has grown more than tenfold in the past year. Most days we are overwhelmed with the amount of animals that are in our care and those that continue to come through the door seeking veterinary care. No matter what the day throws at us I can always count on Starr to be there by my side giving it her all.

Working at a shelter is a labor of love. It takes a special kind of person to work long hours and deal with compassion, fatigue and low pay. There have been many times when Starr has saved the day when we have an emergency come in and we have to drop everything and go into surgery to remove a foreign body or treat a pyometra, or an animal who has been hit by a car. We can always count on Starr to go the extra mile to get the job done.

There have been many times when Starr has taken home sick and injured animals to provide them round-the-clock care including bottle babies. I cannot think of anyone more dedicated and deserving of this award. It gives me great pleasure in nominating Starr Royce to be recognized for all her hard work and dedication as a Veterinary Technician in our most noble profession.”

Rhiannon Vice

“Whether it’s baby’s first exam, routine visits, emergencies, all the way to a loving companion’s very last breath, the support of a knowledgeable and compassionate veterinary technician will make all the difference in getting pets and owners through these situations. After years in the animal care field, I can honestly say there is no better veterinary technician for the trials and tribulations of pet ownership than my friend, Rhiannon Vice. Rhiannon currently works as a dedicated member of the team at Cedar Valley Veterinary Center where she started, as many of us do, working in the kennels in 2016. Rhiannon worked her way up to a full-time technician in 2018 and has been a part of the CVVC family, saving and changing lives ever since.

Rhiannon and I first met in 2004 when we were classmates in the Kirkwood Community College veterinary technician program. Unfortunately, health problems would get in the way of Rhiannon’s dreams, forcing her to exit the program and pursue other paths in life. Rhiannon never forgot her passion for animals though and returned to Kirkwood in 2016 to take another crack at it. This time she absolutely dominated the program, going on to graduate and pass her boards, finally achieving the veterinary technician status she had dreamed of!

When Rhiannon isn’t providing exemplary animal and customer care at Cedar Valley Veterinary Center, she devotes a great deal of her time to fostering animals for multiple organizations including German Shepherd Dog Rescue of Iowa. Rhiannon never shies away from the more complex medical cases including animals that are heartworm positive, have suffered starvation, hit-by-car injuries and more.

It took guts and grit for Rhiannon to return to the veterinary technician program and complete it despite the adversity she has faced in her life. Yet that same tough-as-nails technician will be the first one to greet a struggling pet owner with a much-needed hug and a smile. Rhiannon’s knowledge base, dedication, and kindness stand out as a shining beacon of light that any veterinary professional can aspire to. For all of these inspiring contributions that Rhiannon Vice has made to the veterinary and rescue community here in Iowa, it is my pleasure to nominate a technician so deserving of recognition.”

Leslie Martinez

“Leslie came to us as a student from the Tech School in NJ. We recognized she was special and offered her a job immediately. Leslie has a special heart for the geriatric patients. While everybody loves the new puppies and kittens, Leslie makes sure our geriatric patients are treated with respect and affection. She goes well and beyond especially when is the last visit before crossing the rainbow bridge.

Leslie gives them kisses (including the chocolate ones), a clean bed to rest and makes sure they look good for their owners to remember them forever. She gives lots of hugs, kisses and sometimes tears. We are lucky to have such a compassionate tech work for us.”

Lori Dowling

“Lori has been a technician for many years and learned on the job from the ground up. She is one of the last remaining technicians who trained entirely on the job and passed the licensing exam without the benefit of a formal technician degree program. She has been here at Capitol Animal Clinic for her entire career and is a devoted and highly skilled technician. Lori is continually learning about new products and techniques to keep the clinic on the cutting edge of medicine and after nearly 40 years as a technician, she had undiminished excitement in doing her job. She has a special interest in dental care and nobody does a better job at taking dental rads and in providing excellent dental care. She has had a hand in mentoring many new technicians and college kids with an interest in Veterinary Medicine. Lori is the epitome of what a technician should be…loyal, hard-working and always ready for a new challenge. She is often heard to say that she loves her job because every day is different. Pretty amazing after nearly 40 years on the job!”

Kristi Branch

“Kristi Branch is an absolute gem and asset in my clinic. I literally don’t know what I’d do without her. She is not a trained vet tech, but came to the clinic with a kind heart and unending love for animals, and of course, a willingness to learn. She immediately knew what to do to keep the animal still through her calming nature and gentle handling – multiple clients have commented on how impressed they are with how she keeps their pets calm. She rubs them behind their ears while we’re performing acupuncture, which gets them in a zen state. She’s just a very compassionate person. She’s always on time and stays late when needed.

She’s very friendly and accommodating to the clients, and they often mention her name along with mine when leaving a message. What’s very impressive about Kristi is that she has to wear many hats at my clinic because it’s small, just her and me. The only time she didn’t come to work was when she had COVID-19. She makes lists of things that have to be done, so she won’t forget, and she ALWAYS gets them done.

She’s also very good at handling our social media and makes sure to remember to take pictures of the patients to feature them, and shares her phenomenal artistic talent when designing ads, signs or my business cards. You see, she is a professional colored pencil artist – the animal portraits she does show the personality of each animal. She also helps me when I’m stumped at computer glitches or problems (since I’m a dinosaur!). She NEVER complains about anything! I literally believe she is irreplaceable. She absolutely deserves this award!!! P.S. She takes excellent, loving care of her 3 dogs (she uses Composure Pro and Entero Flora Pro regularly for her pups).”

Dixie Newcomb

“Dixie is an amazing technician. She started at our hospital as a kennel assistant, moved up to veterinary assistant, and finally to technician after completing her degree in veterinary technology. Dixie is our lead ER tech. She has worked alone on overnights, as a supervisor during the day, and anywhere she is needed in the hospital. She is kind and compassionate to her co-workers, clients and of course, pets. We recently did surgery on a puppy from our local shelter who had ingested several toys. Since we don’t have overnight care, Dixie took the puppy home on fluids, monitored it all night and gave it treatments. The puppy did well and was returned to the shelter the following day. We appreciate Dixie so much!”

Sami Treml

“Sami has been with our clinic since April of 2012 as a certified veterinary technician. She came to us with about 5 years previous experience. Sami demonstrates her passion for keeping pets healthy by advocating for their needs. She is an excellent teacher to new staff learning skills, she assists the clients in best practices for general at-home care, and she works diligently with our DVMs to make sure each patient has take-home instructions and/or follow-up care as directed by the DVM’s. Sami has a quiet presence about her that the patients gravitate to. She is very in tune to their energy and she goes above and beyond in giving of herself to keep them calm, happy and relaxed so healing can occur.

Sami has exceptional technician skills – she is amazing in every area. She rotates to help the surgery/dental team, acts as the treatment tech for various DVM’s caring for admitted and sick patients, is great in our exam rooms, assists the inventory person as needed with counts and is a wonderful liaison (person that manages the messages, texts and projects throughout the day for all DVM’s and staff). She is so versatile and willing to help in any position.

Our clients love Sami as much as the patients. She is compassionate and caring and strives to make sure clients are involved in the care of their beloved pets. She treats each pet as if their own and each client as if they were a family member. She has only had one client complaint – the client complained she was too nice and it bothered them – they requested not to have her for appointments. Can you imagine complaining because the person caring for your pet and helping you is ‘too nice?!’

As her manager, Sami is a dream to manage. She has excellent communication skills, reaches out if there are issues, asks questions when she needs additional information or if she doesn’t understand something. If the day blows up, as it will in vet med, she takes a big breath and attacks the day head-on. There may be a moment of the ‘deer in the headlights’ look – but she snaps into action quickly! She is a joy to work with and we all feel fortunate to have her on the team.

What can’t Sami do…that is a great question and one we don’t have an answer for. It would be so much fun and so deserved to have Sami recognized for who she is and all she does to not only make our clinic great but enhance the vet med field. She is truly an inspiration – the field needs more people like her! She is a blessing to all.”