Category: Featured Employee

Katrina was born in San Luis Obispo and raised in Los Osos. While growing up she wasn’t able to have any cats or dogs due to a parental allergy but she did have a bird, a rat and a bunny. She has worked in human medicine for 22 years but always had a love for animals. After working in an emergency pet hospital she knew her true passion was with veterinary medicine. That’s when Katrina joined the PBVC team! Originally working as one of our customer service representatives, Katrina began to work towards becoming a certified veterinary assistant through Penn Foster. She has since transitioned to working full time as a veterinary assistant. She loves being able to help our doctors in appointments and create strong bonds with our patients! Katrina always has a smile on her face.

At home, Katrina has a tuxedo cat who is 5 years old named Fiona Bella. She recently moved to Santa Maria when she met her boyfriend Geoff and added to her fur baby family. She now has 2 boxers: 4 year old Roscoe P Coltrane and 1 year old Cletus.

In her spare time, she likes to take her dogs to the dog beach, spend time with her grown son, participate in car shows, and hang out at her family’s Nacimiento lake house. She vows to one day actually get up on a wake board. Katrina‘s ultimate goal is to become a registered vet tech.

Katie joined the PBVC team in the fall of 2017 as a kennel assistant. Over time, Katie has learned more and more and is now training to be a room nurse! Her smile is infectious and her love for animals is apparent everyday she is here. She loves helping in our treatment room with technician appointments and setting up for surgeries and procedures.

Katie grew up in San Diego and moved to San Luis Obispo to attend Cal Poly. She just finished her third year studying Animal Science.  After college, she hopes to go to vet school! Back home she grew up surrounded by many different animals, ranging from dogs, snakes, bunnies, etc. You name it, she probably had it. Aside from her love for animals, Katie enjoys going on runs and cooking in her free time.

Jenni has been working in the veterinary field since late 2006. Although originally from the Central Coast of California; Jenni lived in Germany for 3 years, and outside of Washington D.C. after (which is where her veterinary career started). Jenni and her two daughters relocated back to California in mid-2010.

Jenni became interested in veterinary medicine when her horse was diagnosed with a neurological disorder in 2003. Having to be extremely hands on during the diagnostic process and medical care, Jenni learned not only how interesting veterinary medicine could be, but also the importance of client education. She became even more interested in neurological cases and studies when given the opportunity to work at a specialty hospital just outside of Washington D.C.; which included working alongside a neurosurgeon. It’s no surprise that neurological cases tend to be Jenni‘s favorite aspect of her job. Assisting in out of the ordinary and complicated surgeries in a close second! Jenni joined the PBVC team in July 2017, and is now one of our lead technicians.

Along with her two daughters, Jenni also lives with her four dogs (Spicey Pie Rice, Lola, Lolly, and Reeses Pieces), and her mare, Wynny. In her free time Jenni likes to go horseback riding, do CrossFit, go on frequent trips to Disneyland with her kids, and create products for her Etsy shop, Sugar & Scrub Fairytale Co. Jenni completed her bachelor’s degree in 2015, and is returning to school mid-2018 to complete her MBA with a concentration in Marketing.

Elise moved to San Luis Obispo in 2013 to attend Cal Poly, where she received her bachelors of animal science. She  grew up in San Diego where she volunteered at the local animal shelters and realized her passion in life is to help animals. Elise joined Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic in June of 2015 where she is now a veterinary assistant. You will often see her in exam rooms helping the doctors provide best medicine and assisting with procedures and diagnostics in treatment. She is continuing her education and life long pursuit of helping animals at Vet School this fall.

When she isn’t working, you can often find her at the beach with her fur children, making dog collars, or at Disneyland. She is currently up to 3 dogs, her mini aussie Koda, her failed foster baby Annie, and her new golden retriever puppy, Milo.

Odessa was born in SLO but moved across the country to Cincinnati, Ohio when she was 6 years old. She returned to the central coast in 2014 to go to Cal Poly, studying animal science with a focus in veterinary medicine. She joined the team at PBVC in August 2016 and has loved it here ever since! Odessa is one of our veterinary assistants and you’ll frequently find her working with patients in our treatment area or helping the doctors as a room nurse. In addition to her work with animals at the clinic, Odessa also helps behind the scenes with running the Facebook page and Instagram. She also writes blog posts for the website. She loves that she is able to combine her love of animals and social media!

Odessa has had lots of different pets throughout her life. Back home with her parents lives her yellow lab, Humphrey, two newfoundlands (June and Chief), a dachshund (Dickie), and her cat, Petunia. In late 2016, Odessa adopted her best friend, Moose, from Animal Services in SLO County. When she’s not at PBVC, Odessa can be found on the dog beach or hanging out around SLO with Moose. After graduation, she plans to continue working at PBVC until possibly going to vet school!

Melissa will be one of the smiling faces to greet you as you come into Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic. Coming to Central Coast California when she was 4, she stakes the claim and pride of considering herself a native Californian. With a combined total of over 11 years experience, we happily welcomed her to our clinic in March of 2017 and in May she became our customer service representative supervisor. In her past, Melissa has worked in both general practice and emergency veterinary clinics. She feels that her experience allows her to assist in educating clients and co-workers on a daily basis.

In her spare time, Melissa can be found soaking up the sun on the sand, the green hills or maybe even a comfy couch! Melissa has recently gained a liking to exploring the central coast hiking trails. The weather and views that we have here are breath taking; And how can we not mention the warm sand and sun on our coastline?

Making up her pack of four-legged-family is a fun bunch! Mia: Black Lab mix, Trixi: Rat Terrier mix, and Cookie: Taco Terrier (Chihuahua/Terrier Mix)