BluePearl Pet Hospital
Tacoma
Lakewood, WA
Our Vets

Dr. Liz Anglin is particularly interested in performing elective laparoscopic procedures, thoracic surgery and portosystemic shunts. She finds emergency procedures and fracture management especially rewarding surgeries to perform.

• Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Surgeons-Small Animal
• Residency, Small Animal Surgery, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• Internship, Small Animal Surgery, Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital, CO
• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Penn Vet’s Ryan Veterinary Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing
• Bachelor of Science, Biology, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN

Dr. Anglin enjoys kayaking, hiking and creating art in her free time. She also enjoys exploring new foods and breweries with her significant other. She has two dogs, Quill and Penelope, and a cat, Quincy.

Publications & Articles

Dr. Jenna Ashton likes the variety of internal medicine and helping pets live their best lives at home with their family. She enjoys performing ultrasounds and endoscopic procedures.

• Residency, Small Animal Internal Medicine, Michigan Veterinary Specialists, Southfield
• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Animal Specialty & Emergency Center, Highlands Ranch, CO
• Master of Science, Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville
• Bachelor of Arts, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA

Dr. Ashton has an 18-year-old cat named Taloulah. In her free time, she enjoys rafting, hiking, camping, backpacking, skiing and traveling.

One of the many reasons Dr. Teryn Bouché loves neurology is that it combines both surgical and clinical cases. She is particularly interested in spinal surgery and managing patients with inflammatory brain disease.

• Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Neurology)
• Residency, Neurology & Neurosurgery, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Veterinary Specialty Center of Seattle, Lynnwood, WA
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman
• Bachelor of Arts, Biology, University of San Diego, CA

Dr. Bouché has one cat named Boo who is chaos in feline form. Growing up in the PNW gave her a huge love for the outdoors; she’s a big fan of hiking, camping/backpacking, skiing and generally staying active. She is also an avid reader.

Dr. Sarah Broom enjoys treating all pets with cancer and teaming up with owners to improve or maintain a pet’s quality of life for as long as possible. She finds treating lymphoma patients to be especially rewarding because she and her team are able to help them feel like themselves again for multiple months.

• Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Oncology)
• Residency, Oncology, Kansas State University, Manhattan
• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, WestVet Boise Emergency & Specialty Center, Garden City, ID
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman
• Bachelor of Science, Biology, Washington State University, Vancouver

Dr. Broom considers herself a basset hound enthusiast and has two who she competes with in dog shows from time to time. She also has a three-legged cat, who she rescued while in veterinary school. Dr. Broom is happy to be back home in western Washington, where she enjoys spending time with her family and significant other, exploring the outdoors, and visiting breweries, wineries and local restaurants.

Dr. Jessica Chavera loves veterinary neurology because of the combination and variety of working with both medical and surgical patients. Her areas of interest include inflammatory brain disease, managing patients with seizures, and treating cats with neurological diseases. Additionally, she enjoys communicating with clients and providing education about neurological conditions as well as working with clients who have geriatric dogs.

• Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Neurology)
• Master of Science, Clinical & Translational Science, Washington State University, Pullman
• Residency, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Washington State University, Pullman
• Internship, Neurology, Iowa State University, Ames
• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Iowa State University, Ames
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan
• Bachelor of Music Education, University of South Dakota, Vermillion
• Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of South Dakota, Vermillion

Dr. Chavera has five cats and a dog. Outside of work, she likes road biking, running and hiking. She also enjoys strumming her guitar and singing.

Publications and articles

Dr. Morgen Dugan finds treating blocked cats, repairing wounds, foreign body surgeries and medicine cases such as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) particularly gratifying.

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
• Bachelor of Science, Biology, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

Dr. Dugan has a husband and two amazing cats (only one of them has a functioning brain cell – the other is very cute). She and her husband enjoy being outdoors doing things like hiking, rock climbing and exploring. They are currently working on building a garden. Dr. Dugan has also recently become obsessed with crocheting.

Dr. Kristin Gill enjoys all aspects of avian and exotics medicine, particularly avian orthopedics and complex medical cases in birds and rabbits.

• Diplomate, American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (Avian Practice)
• Residency, Avian & Exotics, BluePearl Specialty + Emergency Pet Hospital, Tampa, FL
• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, BluePearl Veterinary Partners, Tampa, FL
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• Bachelor of Science, Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Dr. Gill lives with three large breed rabbits, a pionus parrot, a corn snake, several bichir, and dermestid beetles. Her hobbies include ceramics, dabbling in other crafts, reading and kayaking.

Publications and articles

Dr. Deborah Hodesson has worked in emergency medicine, owned her own small animal private practice, and worked as a mobile veterinarian. After years in the dental field, she still finds it gratifying to restore health to a diseased tooth or tissue. She also enjoys oral surgery, particularly mass removals and root canal therapy.

• Diplomate, American Veterinary Dental College
• Residency, Dentistry & Oral Surgery, Dentistry for Animals, Aptos, CA
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis
• Bachelor of Arts, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA

Dr. Hodesson volunteers her veterinary skills with a number of organizations, assisting with a variety of species, including marine mammals. She likes swimming, hiking, backpacking, camping, kayaking, scuba diving and triathlons, and her all-time favorite team is the Seattle Seahawks. She and her husband have three adult boys and three pets: Chocolate lab Aniska, golden retriever K’Taira, and Himalayan cat Kai Lani Maka Leah.

Publications and articles

Dr. Eleanor Itzkow has a background in wildlife rehabilitation and is quite interested in avian and exotic medicine. She particularly enjoys treating gastrointestinal and dermatological conditions, as it can bring so much relief to both the owner and the pet.

• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital, Tampa FL
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul
• Bachelor of Science, Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Itzkow currently shares her life with a very sweet and aged Amazon Parrot, a very fluffy and ridiculous Belgian sheepdog, and one very patient fiancé.

Dr. Yunzhi Luo has enjoyed working in emergency medicine since veterinary school. She has a passion for shelter medicine and loves working with rescue pets and exotics.

• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, BluePearl Pet Hospital, Tampa, FL
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Master of Science, Animal Science, Kansas State University, Manhattan
• Master of Art, Psychology, University of Chicago, IL
• Bachelor of Science, Applied Psychology & Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China

In her free time, Dr. Luo enjoys hiking, reading, traveling, musicals, ballet and relaxing movie nights with her cats, Hermes and Iris.

Dr. Ellie Nuth chose the radiology field because she enjoys working with all veterinary specialties. Her favorite modalities are CT and ultrasound.

• Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Radiology
• Residency, Diagnostic Imaging, Kansas State University, Manhattan
• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital, Wheat Ridge, CO
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
• Bachelor of Science, Zoology and Biological Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins

Married with one daughter, Dr. Nuth loves biking and hiking. She also enjoys sampling her husband’s home-brewed beer. She has one dog, a Chihuahua named Nova.

Publications & Articles

Dr. Benjamin Perry considers his previous biomedical engineering training invaluable because it gives him a better understanding of the structure and function of body systems. A particular clinical interest is the challenge of addressing elbow dysplasia, a particularly debilitating disease of young, often otherwise healthy dogs with mostly pain-relief-only treatment options. A potential surgical treatment for this condition, in which Dr. Perry is trained, is proximal abducting ulnar osteotomy (PAUL). Dr. Perry is also involved in both the evolution and advancement of minimally invasive techniques utilizing arthroscopy.

• Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Surgeons-Small Animal
• Master of Science, Veterinary Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Residency, Small Animal Surgery, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Internship, Small Animal Surgery, Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center, TX
• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Texas A&M University, College Station
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Bachelor of Science, Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas, Austin

Dr. Perry is an active mentor of younger veterinarians. His hobbies include obedience training, bicycling, live music, making Texas-style barbecue, traveling and cooking with his family. He is an avid Seattle Kraken fan.

Publications & Articles

Dr. Brittany Heggem Perry keeps up with developments in human critical care medicine, and she is most excited by the prospects of non-invasive and minimally-invasive testing, as these procedures can be incredibly helpful to doctors with little to no discomfort to patients. Some of the most fulfilling cases to Dr. Perry are those with sudden intoxications and endocrine emergencies because with good intensive care, most of these cases make significant improvement and are very rewarding.

• Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care
• Residency, Emergency & Critical Care, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Internship, Emergency & Critical Care, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Internship, Exotic Animal, Wildlife and Zoological Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
• Master of Science, Veterinary Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Bachelor of Science, Wildlife and Fisheries – Vertebrate Zoology, Texas A&M University, College Station

Dr. Perry’s favorite pastimes include baking, playing the piano and gardening. She has one mixed-breed rescue dog who is her jogging buddy.

Publications and articles

Dr. Allison Reeder completed her internship in small animal medicine and surgery and is now working full time in emergency medicine. She has a special interest in wound management, pain management and neurology.

• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospitals, Phoenix AZ
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman WA
• Bachelor of Science, University of Washington, Seattle WA

Dr. Reeder likes being on the water, especially paddle boarding and kayaking. She has a lab mix and border collie and two conure birds.

Dr. Amy Rossi loves the improved quality of life and pain relief that dental care brings to her patients. She finds cases of severe periodontal disease, jaw fractures, palatal surgery, orthodontics — and any case involving a cat – especially gratifying to treat. She also enjoys helping animals with challenging anesthetic issues.

• Diplomate, American Veterinary Dental College
• Residency, Dentistry & Oral Surgery, Veterinary Dentistry & Oral Surgery of New Mexico, Algodones
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman

In her spare time, Dr. Rossi enjoys drawing and running.

Publications and articles

Dr. Katrina Schmitz has always been drawn to emergency medicine and appreciates the wide range of cases that critical care brings. Even when she was working as a technician, she gravitated toward the most critical cases. She especially enjoys helping septic and hemodynamically unstable patients.

• Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care
• Residency, Small Animal Emergency & Critical Care, Texas A&M University, College Station
• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, VCA West Los Angeles, CA
• Clinical Rotation, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, St. George’s University, Grenada, West Indies
• Bachelor of Science, Biology, St. Mary’s College of California, Moraga

Outside of work, Dr. Schmitz enjoys spending time at the beach with her dogs, horseback riding and painting.

Publications and articles

Dr. Sharon Shor is dedicated to compassionate care for pets with cancer. His main focus is on educating clients about their pet’s disease and finding treatment options that best suit the pet and their owner.

Cancers commonly seen at the clinic include lymphoma in dogs and cats, mast cell tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, bone osteosarcoma and other bone tumors, bladder and prostate tumors, intestinal and anal gland tumors, nasal and oral tumors, and thyroid and lung carcinomas.

The oncology service uses diagnostic tools such as radiographs, ultrasound (abdomen, chest and neck), CT scans and tissue biopsies.

Treatments offered include chemotherapy, Palladia and other small molecule inhibitors; electrochemotherapy for incompletely excised tumors as well as small, non-surgical tumors in dogs and cats (unique for the South Sound area); ELIAS immunotherapy for bone osteosarcoma, and Stelfonta treatment for mast cell tumors, both used in dogs.

• Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Oncology)
• Residency, Medical Oncology, University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign
• Master of Science, Comparative Oncology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Internship, Oncology, Oregon State University, Corvallis
• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
• Bachelor of Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Dr. Shor spends his free time with his wife and two children hiking, traveling and photographing the pacific northwest. Their pets include two cats, Duncan and Simon, both adopted from foster homes.

Publications and articles

Dr. Kevin Sio has experience working with zoo animals, and he is especially interested in exotic species and wildlife medicine.

• Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Premier Veterinary Group, Chicago, IL
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
• Bachelor of Science, Biology, Creighton University, Omaha, NE

Dr. Sio enjoys hiking, cycling and playing Pokémon Go.

Publications & Articles

Dr. Alexandra Siverling’s special interests include emergency medicine, internal medicine, neurology and cardiology.

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Bachelor of Science, Neurobiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison

In her spare time, Dr. Siverling can be found adventuring in the great outdoors hiking, biking or rock climbing. She shares her life with her husband and their two sweet cats.

Dr. Sheppard Thorp has extensive experience treating all forms of pet emergencies, including toxicities, trauma, obstruction, acute and immune-mediated diseases, infections, and chronic degenerative diseases such as heart, respiratory and kidney failure. He is skilled in emergency surgeries such as gastric dilatation and volvulus (GDV), cesarean section, foreign body retrieval, splenectomy, cystotomy, and tracheostomy. His special interests include hypotensive shock, hypotension, circulatory and ventilator collapse, and pain control. His goal is to improve his patients’ health and comfort, especially during their time at the hospital.

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
• Bachelor of Arts, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH

As a certified Master Birder, Dr. Thorp leads bird-watching tours and field trips, bird-count surveys, and teaching courses for various nature and wildlife groups. His pets include Hux Pux Deluxe (Huxley), a yellow Lab with tricuspid valve dysplasia who loves to play fetch; Hebe, a chocolate Golden Retriever/Lab mix who loves to swim; and Lemon, a pushy three-legged Pitbull who loves to run. Dr. Thorp loves spending time with his loving wife and three amazing children.