Veterinarian
Hi, I'm Dr. Katherine Hillibbrand. I'm a veterinarian at Santa Monica Pet Medical Center. I'm also the medical director here.
Walk us through your journey from graduating college to becoming a veterinarian.
I went to the The University of Virginia for my undergrad. I graduated in 2003, and then I went to vet school at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Graduated in 2007. I did an equine internship at Blige Equine in Charlottesville, Virginia. And then I switched from equine practice to small animal practice in 2008. I've been doing that ever since. I moved to Los Angeles in 2014.
What drew you to veterinary medicine in the first place?
I've always had an interest in medicine. I have a family with a long history in the medical field, and I always loved animals growing up. I actually went to a summer camp in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where I learned to ride horses. And in my family growing up in Chicago, we always had a lot of large dogs. And so my love of dogs and horses, and also science and medicine, is where I kind of combined those into a career.
What's your favorite part of the job?
My favorite part of working in a small animal practice is getting to know the family members and the pets over the duration of their life, from puppies and kittens all the way to senior pets, and really building that relationship almost as an extension of their family. Seeing their animals grow, seeing their kids grow, you know, human kids and furry kids. And just the wealth of care that we can provide, and really having those special relationships.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I have a Bernese Mountain Dog who I spend time with a lot in my free time, of course, but he also comes to work with me. You might see him at the front desk occasionally! I enjoy concerts and live music. I go to festivals. I run sometimes, and I've run some marathons in the past. Now, at most, I'm running half marathons. I enjoy yoga and just being outdoors hiking, and of course being with my family, my nieces, and nephew.
Can you tell us about your experience in the field?
Yes. So when I graduated vet school in 2007, I went and did an equine internship, which was really intensive in equine surgery, medicine, and actually ambulatory, which is when you go in the trucks out to the farms and take care of the horses on site. After that, in 2008, I actually made a career shift into small animal medicine and I worked in Chicago at a hospital called Wanka Animal Hospital on the north shore of Chicago for many years. I got tired of the Chicago winters. So, I moved to California in 2014, and I worked at West Hollywood Animal Hospital in West Hollywood, also in the LA area, until 2020. And during the pandemic, actually, we were very, very busy and I made the shift over here to Santa Monica.
Do you have any certifications you'd like to share?
I don't have any specialty board certifications, but I have a strong interest in medicine, dentistry, surgery, and even dermatology. We see a lot of skin and ear cases here in Southern California. So, I do excel at those, but really, a broad spectrum of general practice.
Are you involved in any veterinary organizations?
Yes, I'm a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association, and the California Veterinary Medical Association.
Have you published or contributed to any articles, research, or papers?
Actually, when I was prevet and in undergrad, I worked for a human surgeon who was doing research on gene therapy in hearts and they actually published a study using pig hearts and a pig model. So, I helped care for a lot of those pigs in the research lab and I was part of that paper.
What's something you'd like our clients to know about you or your career approach?
My number one goal is for you to treat us like an extension of your family. No question is ever too silly. You can call or email us anytime. Not only as the veterinarian, but also the medical director here. If you have any confusion about a treatment plan or a diagnosis, or if you're just worried about your pet and you think it's a silly worry, don't worry, you're not being silly. You can always call us and ask for help. That's why we're here. We'd much rather talk to you and make sure everything's okay than you feel like you're going it alone. We want to be part of your care team for your pet from puppy and kitten all the way up to senior. So just think of us anytime you need anything and don't hesitate to reach out.
Can you explain to us about pet dentistry?
One of the things that we offer here is a really great level of dental care for your pet. And they've shown that not just in people, but in dogs and cats, too. Regular dental care really prolongs the longevity of your animal. And so what we do here are full anesthetized dental cleanings. And that might sound scary. "Oh, anesthesia. I don't want my animal to be under anesthesia." But it's actually safer for the pet and we get a much better outcome. The reason for that being is we can intubate them. So, they're breathing oxygen and inhaled gases through a tube so that when we're cleaning the teeth and getting all of that material off the teeth, none of that is getting into their throat, into their airway, and we can get a much more thorough clean along the gum line.
That also gives us the ability to get x-rays of all the teeth roots because a lot of dental disease is hiding underneath the surface. You won't be able to evaluate a tooth just by looking at the portion you can see. So getting those full-mouth x-rays just like they do on us when I go to the dentist that helps us make sure that we can address and prevent issues before they become a bigger concern.
And then sometimes there might be teeth that are diseased. They might have mobility. They might have bone loss around the root. They might have an infectious pocket or debris or they might be broken. I mean animals can break their teeth if they chew on something really hard or they're in a traumatic incident. So those teeth we can safely extract and then we use our X-ray equipment to get oral radiographs after the extraction to make sure that that bone is really healthy. There's no fragment of root left behind. We can suture the gums and everything can heal really nicely. And people do sometimes worry what's going to happen if my animal loses a tooth or many teeth. Are they still going to be able to eat? It's a good question. But the main thing I would say is that that tooth, if it's not a viable tooth, they're probably not using it to eat anyway, and it's probably causing pain and discomfort. So once we get that broken or infected tooth out, they actually eat a lot better. And we've even had some animals that have very few teeth left and they're still eating full, dry food, no problems, swallowing well, and just way more comfortable. Plus, they live longer!
So, if you have any questions about dental care here at Santa Monica Pet Medical Centerl or at home, we're happy to answer those questions for you. The other thing, too, is that we also have a lot of great dental products that you can use at home. Toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental chews, dental wipes, because our goal is not only just to do the dental cleaning, but to do the dental cleaning and then have you go home and keep up good oral care to prolong the benefit of that cleaning.
Our anesthesia is also very carefully monitored. We have EKGs, blood pressure on every patient. You have certified technicians running the anesthesia as well as your doctor, of course. So, it's a team of at least three people on every pet from start to finish. In addition, they get an IV catheter, IV fluids, and very, very close monitoring. If you're ever interested in seeing how your teeth how the teeth went or x-rays, all of our x-ray equipment, whether it's full body x-rays like chest or abdomen or the ones on the teeth are digital. So, we can always email you copies. We can go through it with you. I'm a visual person, so I like to see.
At Santa Monica Pet Medical Center, your pet is our priority. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call our team at (310) 393-8218, or you can email us at [email protected]. Our staff would love to talk with you!